


Missing Hope

by Regenbogen



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dark, For Want of a Nail, Gen, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-13
Updated: 2018-09-30
Packaged: 2019-05-06 04:00:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 28,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14633643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Regenbogen/pseuds/Regenbogen
Summary: "Your mission is to find the trickster and aid him on his journey."That was the purpose which had been given to Morgana when he was created. But it is truly difficult to find one specific person amongst millions.What if Akira, Ryuji and Ann weren't so fortunate as to have met Morgana in Kamoshida's palace. How would that have changed things to come? What would they have done? How far would they have gone?[on hiatus]





	1. Tripping over a nail

**Author's Note:**

> I thought about what would happen if Morgana wasn't in Kamoshida's palace and he wasn't there to explain things for them. And thus this story was born.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought about what would happen if Morgana wasn't in Kamoshida's palace and he wasn't there to explain things for them. And thus this story was born.

“What’s with this statue? It’s just as effin ugly as Kamoshida is in person! Damn it, how are we going to get this bridge to lower itself? “, the blond boy with whom Akira had gotten stuck in this bizarre castle with shouted.

“Maybe if we do something to the statue it’ll go down?” Akira said.

This was really not how Akira had expected his first day at Shujin to go. He had expected to just go to school, sit through boring lectures, return to his dusty attic and just wait until his probation was over. The probation that he was only on because he had tried to save a woman from being raped. Not spend it trying to escape from some medieval castle belonging to an abusive teacher wearing nothing but a sparkling heart cape and a pink speedo.

“You think so? Well, I guess it can’t hurt to try and mess around with it. Cuz there ain't anything or anyone who can help us in those cells over there.”

Taking a closer look at the statue, they began to poke and mess around with it. Eventually, Akira found that grabbing the mouth and pulling it down does indeed lower the bridge.

“Showoff…” Sakamoto grumbled.

Smirking at the blond’s comment, Akira began making his way across the bridge, hoping that he wouldn’t run into any more of those knights that turned into monsters.

Speak of the devil, one of those knights showed up, bursting into a Crypt-dwelling Pyromaniac and a Bedside Brute. Calling fourth Arsene, Akira managed to take them both down by just spamming Eiha until they were defeated, but not without taking some damage.

“Dude, are you ok? You seemed to take quite the beating from those monsters.”

“I think I can manage if I don’t get into too many more fights. But we should really hurry and get out of here as soon as we can.”

“Okay. Okay. I got it.”

As they rushed down the halls, Akira fighting whatever knights/monsters they were unable to hide from, they ended up in a windowless room.

“Is this a dead end?” asked an exhausted Sakamoto. “Whatever. I’m tired from running from those guards, so let’s just take a quick break. It doesn’t seem like those knights will go in here.”

Akira agreeing with him, they sat down at one of the tables to catch their breath.

“Anyway, what just happened? I mean, we went to school and then we ended up at this weird castle! And just what was that thing with that demon or whatever that was bursting out of you?” Sakamoto exclaimed.

“Not so loud. We don’t want the guards to know we’re in here.”

“Sorry. But seriously, what the hell was all that?”

“I’m honestly not entirely sure of it myself. All I know is that when Kamoshida(?) was trying to kill you, I couldn’t just run away or stand there and let it happen. And then I heard this voice in my head, asking me how I really felt about… something I don’t want to talk about right now.” He wasn’t going to tell someone he just met about his “criminal” past right now. “And then it hurt quite a bit. And then this mask showed up on my face. You saw what happened after that.”

“Ok. But then what was with those weird clothes? And all those monsters trying to kill us? And why was Kamoshida dressed like that and why did he have golden eyes and-” Sakamoto was cut off by Akira placing his hand over his mouth.

“Quiet. I think I hear the guards coming.” “For real?” They went over to the door and pressed their ears against it. Sure enough, they heard the chatter of the knights:

_“Do you think they could have gone here somewhere?”_

_“Find them and bring them to King Kamoshida for their due punishment.”_

“Oh crap!” Sakamoto whisper-shouted. “How the hell are we gonna get out of here?”

Looking around, Akira spotted a ventilation shaft in the far back of the room. He made his way towards it, climbed up to it and with a bit of effort, managed to get the grate off. Setting it carefully to the side so that it wouldn’t make any noise, he took a closer look at what was inside the vent. Seeing a tunnel, he gestured to Sakamoto to come over to him.

“Through there?” Sakamoto asked.  
“We don’t really have any other option at this point.” Akira replied.  
“Guess you’re right.”

To their luck however, the vent led right to the outside of the castle. After they climbed down, they immediately began sprinting away from the castle, not wanting to have to put up with it anymore.

\----------------------

_“You have returned to the real world. Welcome back.”_

\----------------------

“What the hell was that cop thinking, saying that we were taking drugs?” Sakamoto said as they made their way back to Shujin. “Wait, what the hell? It’s already lunch time! Damn it, just how long were we in that castle?” said Sakamoto as he put his phone back in his pocket.

“We better hurry.” said Akira.

\----------------------

“Is this for real…? I’m sure we came the same way… What’s goin’ on here…?”

“That’s exactly what I wanted to ask you. We received a call from the police. Where were you two roaming around all this time?” said the counselor, who had been waiting at the school’s entrance.

Before Sakamoto could open his mouth, Akira said “We got lost. Sorry.”

“Kurusu, is that a bruise on the side of your lip?” asked the counselor, not bothering to hide his obvious disdain.

“I tripped and fell.” said Akira, looking down at the ground. He was lucky enough that most of the wounds that those monsters inflicted upon him were covered up by his clothes, but of course there had to be that one on his face, which could apparently be seen even from that distance.

“You tripped, huh?” the counselor let out an annoyed sigh. “Do you honestly want to be in this school!? Do you seriously think that-“

“What’s all this commotion?” said a familiar voice.

All their eyes turned to the source of that voice. It was the same man who had picked up that blonde girl in his car and who had tried to kill him and Sakamoto.

“Kamoshida!?” Akira noticed Sakamoto visibly tense up when that man approached the counselor.

“You seem so carefree, Sakamoto. Quite a difference from when you were on the track team.”

Kamoshida sounded so normal, that it was off in its own right. With how angry the golden eyed version of him was at the castle was at them, it was really uncanny that none of that anger could be found anywhere on his face. Akira’s mind immediately tried to put together possible explanations. Were those two Kamoshidas different beings? Did he not remember what happened at the castle? Or was he just really good at putting on an act?

“Shuddup! It’s because of you that-“ Sakamoto was cut off by the counselor.

“How dare you speak that way to Mister Kamoshida! There’s not much leeway left for a troublemaker like you, you know. And speaking of troublemakers… Kurusu, would you care to explain that bruise on your face? And no excuses this time!”

“I told you. I tripped and fell.” said Akira, desperately hoping that his lie would stick.

“Uh huh. Do you really expect me to believe that?! If it was me instead of Kobayakawa you'd already be out of this school.”

“Now now. Let’s give him the benefit of the doubt.” said Kamoshida, which Akira immediately found suspicious. Why was Kamoshida standing up for him? He had to know about his record, being on the school faculty. Did he know something he didn’t? Did he have some ulterior motive?

“If you say so. In any case,” the counselor turned to the blond “Sakamoto, you’re coming with me. As for you, Kurusu, head to the faculty office immediately. Miss Kawakami is waiting for you there.”

“Fine” Sakamoto sighed as he walked to the school.

As Akira began making his way up the stairs Kamoshida turned to him and asked “Have we met somewhere before?”

“I saw a girl in your car.” Akira decided to try and play it safe and mention the castle as little as possible. Something inside him told him that this was the best course of action.

“That’s right, I remember now. Well, I’ll overlook this just for today. But if you cause any trouble you’ll be immediately expelled, got it!?” If Akira had 100 yen every time someone told him that line…

“Good luck trying to enjoy your new school life.”

\----------------------

_“Is that the criminal transfer student?”_

_“So they really did let a violent criminal in this school!”_

_“What was the principal thinking?”_

_“Breaking and Entering, Rape, Blackmail, Murder… I hear he’s done it all.”_

_“I bet he spends his free time stealing candy from babies, kicking puppies and tying women to train tracks.”_

_“Sato, you’ve been watching too many of those old american cartoons.”_

\----------------------

As Kawakami opened the door to the classroom, everyone stopped talking right then and there and turned their gazes to Akira. He had already figured out on his way to the faculty office that all the students knew about his criminal record, so this reaction shouldn’t have surprised him. But it still hurt.

“…Well, I’d like to introduce a transfer student: Akira Kurusu. Today we had him attend from the afternoon on since he wasn’t feeling well. Alright, please say something to the class.”

“I’m Akira Kurusu.” He said, knowing it wouldn’t change a thing with how the class saw him. Sure enough, he was immediately proven right.

_“He seems quiet, but I bet he gets into fights all the time.”_

_“I know. Do you see that nasty bruise on his face?”_

_“That alone should be enough to kick him out of here.”_

“…Uh, so… Your seat will be… the one over there, behind Takamaki.”

Making his way to his seat, Akira heard Takamaki say something, but didn’t understand what she said.

“Huh?”

“Ugh. Never mind.” She turned to look at the window, clearly irritated.

_“Did you hear that?”_

_“Do they know each other?"_

_“Figures that Takamaki would be into those sorts of guys.”_

Akira had a feeling that this year was going to be a disaster.

\----------------------

“So you wanted to speak with me?” Akira said, making his way to the tables on the rooftop where Sakamoto was sitting.

“Yeah. Thanks for making your way up here. I bet Kawakami already told you to stay away from me, huh?” said Sakamoto.

“She said you’re trouble, Sakamoto.” replied Akira.

“You and me both. And you don’t have to use my last name. Just call me Ryuji.”

“Sure thing, Sakamoto.”

“Asshole.” said Ryuji “Though that kinda gutsy behavior makes sense with your criminal record. Anyway, what was with that castle and how we almost got killed there? It wasn’t a dream, right?”

“Yeah. My body wouldn’t be hurting all over if that was the case.” said Akira.

“True. Either way, I owe you for saving me from Kamoshida. So, thanks man.”

“It was nothing.”

“Dude, I haven’t seen just how badly beaten up the rest of you is, but just from that one bruise on your face I can tell that it wasn’t nothing. Are you sure you’re ok? Do you want to have a doctor check it out?”

“A doctor would just ask too many questions.” said Akira.

“True. Anyway, I just can’t stop thinking about Kamoshida. There are all kinds of rumors about him. That he beats his students and hits on the girls. But nobody does anything about him because he’s some Olympic athlete who won a gold medal and that apparently gives him the right to do whatever the hell he wants. The way he acted like a king in that castle felt crazy real because of that. Do you think that there is any way we can go back there?”

“I don’t know. But his reaction at the school gate had me confused. He didn’t seem nearly as angry there as he was in the castle. Do you have any idea as to why?”

“None. But I bet we’ll find out if we go back to the castle.” Said Ryuji.

“True,” Akira said. “but let’s not do that today. It’s late and I need to get back to where I live or Sakura-san’s going to be even angrier with me. I just hope the trains won’t be delayed.”

“Well then, see you tomorrow, Akira.”

As Akira made his way back to Leblanc, a part of him thought about everything that had happened. First that weird dream, then being stuck inside that strange castle, awakening to Arsene, his record being leaked and maybe becoming friends with Ryuji. Another part of him wondered what his year would be like, with all these strange things happening only on the first day. But most of him was hoping that his beaten up body wouldn’t hurt too much while sleeping.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry that this chapter wasn't all that different from canon. But Morgana not being around will have a bigger influence soon enough, so don't worry.
> 
> Or do. :)c
> 
> I already have this story planned out, I just need to actually write the chapters.
> 
> Next time:  
> The boys return to the palace and Ryuji gets his Persona.


	2. Mission: Find A Cell Key

As he walked into the cafe, Akira was instantly greeted by an angry Sojiro Sakura.

“I got an interesting call from your school today. Care to explain why you were hours late on your first day?”

“I got lost on the way there.” said Akira.

“Uh huh.” Sakura-san scowled. “And why is there a nasty bruise on your lip? I know it wasn’t there yesterday or this morning.”

“I tripped and fell” Akira knew that that excuse wouldn’t work, but it was the only thing he could offer at this moment. If he was ever going to return to that castle, he would at least need to get some makeup to cover up any further unsightly bruises.

“Do you even understand your situation at all? You’ll be back in juvie really quickly if you keep this up. Have I made myself clear?”

“Y-yes, boss.”

First the faulty assault charge and now being chewed out for getting beat up by otherworldly monsters. Was Akira’s entire year in Tokyo going to be like this?

“Ok then.” Sakura-san said, as he went and took his apron off. Right then, his phone began ringing. Akira noticed him looking less tense than he did before.

“Hey what’s up….. yeah, I just closed up the shop…. Uh-huh. Listen, tell her I’m going to be a bit late. There’s something I need to take care of. …….  Alright. I’ll see you then.”

As he hung up, Sakura-san turned towards Akira and said “I can’t have you looking like a beaten dish rag. Follow me.”

Not sure of what else to do in this situation, Akira followed him through the alleyways until they reached the clinic that Akira had spotted while trying to find where the café was on his first day in Tokyo. As they entered the clinic, Akira saw a Punk-rock Woman sitting behind the reception booth.

“Hey. Are you still open, Takemi-san?” said Sakura-san.

“Yes. Why?” Takemi replied.

“Could you take a quick look at this kid’s face, please? I know it’s only one bruise, but still.”

“Follow me to the examination room.” Takemi said to Akira. He was surprised both by the fact that Sakura would have him checked up by a doctor and the fact that Takemi seemed to be the doctor in question, going by the fact that there was nobody else in the examination room other than them.

As Akira sat down on the sick bed, the other bruises on his body caused him to slightly wince. And just as his luck would have it, Takemi had heard the sound he made, if the expression she made as she turned towards him was any indication.

“Okay. Let me have a look at this.” she said as she began taking a closer look at his face. After that, despite Akira’s hesitance and reluctance, Takemi also examined the bruises on his chest. “Hmm. They don’t seem to be that severe. If you don’t do anything more to exert yourself they should be gone in about two weeks.”

“Do you have something that could alleviate the pain?” Akira asked. He didn’t want to come across as rude, but he also didn’t want to constantly be hurting, especially if he was going to return to that castle as Ryuji had wanted.

To Akira’s surprise, however, Takemi began smirking. “Well, I do have some ointments which can reduce the pain. However, if you use them you have to return to me every now and then for a check-up, just in case there are any side effects.”

 “I’ll take them.” He found her last few words just a tad bit ominous, but he didn’t feel in a position to object at the moment. He watched her as she went and got the medicine and put it in a bag. Taking it from her, Akira sat up from the sick bed. As he left the examination room to meet up with Sakura again, she told them that he would need to return in three days for a check-up.

\----------------------

Waking up in an instant, Akira found himself in the Velvet Room for the second time. As he sat up, he heard Caroline’s voice. “…About time you’ve come to. On your feet, Inmate!” she shouted. Akira stood up and walked towards the bars, wondering what they had to say to him this time.

“Our master wishes to speak with you.” Justine said in a much calmer tone that her sister.

“First off, let us celebrate our reunion.” Igor said, his voice still as menacingly deep as the last time Akira was here. “It seems as though you have awakened to your powers. And rather special ones at that. Your rehabilitation can finally begin.”

What Igor had just said was confirming Akira’s suspicions that whatever this place was had something to do with that weird castle. But amidst the many questions going through his head, Akira decided to first ask “Special powers?”.

Igor chuckled. “There is no need to understand it all for the time being. You will be training the power of Persona, to which you have awakened.”

“Persona? Are you talking about Arsene?” Akira found himself asking.

“Don’t be so rude to our master, Inmate!” shouted Caroline, slamming her baton against the bars.

“Now, now. What our guest had asked is a valid question.” said Igor. “But to answer your question, your assessment was correct. Personas are, in other words, a “mask” – an armor of the heart when confronting worldly matters. I have high expectations of you.”

“What do you mean?” Akira asked.

“There is no need to worry. You will learn when the time comes. By the way… have you come to appreciate the Metaverse Navigator? Using it will allow you to come and go between reality and Palaces.”

“Palaces? Metaverse? What are you talking about?”

“I will explain it all during your next visit. Just know for now that cultivating bonds with likeminded individuals will prove beneficial to your rehabilitation.” Igor said, totally dodging Akira’s questions.

As the prison bell rang, Caroline said “Hmph, it’s time. Go back and enjoy whatever rest you might have...”

And with that, Akira’s mind faded back into regular sleep.

\----------------------

**4/12/16**

**Tuesday**

When Akira woke up that morning, he noticed something out of the ordinary. It was not as strange as Kamoshida’s castle or the Velvet Room, but strange none the less. He didn’t feel any of the pain from the bruises he got the previous day. At first he thought that Takemi’s ointment was the reason, but as he took his pajama shirt off he saw that there were no bruises on his chest at all.

After thinking about it, Akira’s mind reached the conclusion that the disappearance of the wounds had to do with the fact that they were inflicted upon him in that other world. The fact that he would seemingly be able to get rid of all of those injuries with just a full night’s sleep and wake up the next morning at full health filled him with some relief.

But it also left him worried, as he wasn’t sure how to explain what happened to his body to Takemi. Deciding that he still had some time to think up an excuse, he packed some of the medicine from her into his bag.

\----------------------

“…and that’s what happened last night.” said Akira to Ryuji.

He had run into the blond outside of Shujin after class had ended, as he had wanted to speak with him about returning to the castle.

“So that thing that came out of you is called a Persona, huh? Well, at least we know what it’s called now. But, man. Just what was up with that weird long nosed guy?” said Ryuji.

“I’m not sure. But he said that he would explain more the next time I visited, so I guess we just have to wait and see.” Akira replied. “Do you have any idea how to return to that castle? That is what we came here to do, right?”

“Nope. But if we keep trying, I’m sure we’ll figure out how we managed to do it in the first place.”

\----------------------

“Look. We made it back to the castle.” Akira and Ryuji had eventually figured out how to use the app on Akira’s phone to get there. They ran to the hole in the wall from which they had escaped the previous day. “G-Gah. Your clothes!” shouted Ryuji.

As Akira lifted one of his hands up, he saw that he was wearing the same outfit he wore yesterday whenever he summoned Arsene.

“Just what is with that outfit?” asked Ryuji. “You jelly?”

“I-I ain’t jealous.”

Smirking at Ryuji’s obvious lie, Akira decided to give a more serious answer. “I think it has something to do with Arsene. I mean, it appeared on me when I awoke to him and whenever I summoned him.”

“I guess that makes sense. Oh, do you think if I were to get a persona, I’d get some cool clothes like that too?” Ryuji seemed to perk up at that thought. He then quickly shook his head. “A-Anyway, we’re getting off topic.”

“What exactly did you want to do here in the first place?” Akira asked.

“You know those guys we saw locked up in the prison cells? Well, yesterday during class I realized that they were students from the school’s volleyball team. And it got me thinking. What if we weren’t the only students of Shujin who got trapped in this weird castle? Once that thought crossed my mind, I couldn’t stop worrying about them. I mean, they’re trapped in there and who knows what that golden-eyed Kamoshida is doing to them?”

Just then, they heard a loud scream come from within the castle.

“You see? We need to hurry or who knows what else’ll happen.” As Ryuji quickly turned around and tried to reach for the hole, Akira’s hand grabbed his shoulder and stopped him. “What are you doing?”

“We need to think up a plan before we go in.” Akira said. “We barely made it out alive the last time we were here, remember?”

“You’re right. But we already know how to get out if something happens. I was thinking that we could lead out the captive students that way. Ain’t that enough?”

“And just how are we going to get the students out of those cells?” Akira retorted.

“Couldn’t you just blast the cells open with your persona?”

“I could, but that would probably also injure the person in the cell.” After saying that, Akira tugged at his hair as he thought of a plan. “I think I’ve got something. How about we check the dungeon to see if one of the guards has a cell key.”

“Sounds like a solid plan to me. Oh, before I forget, I brought a few things with me that I think’ll help us out.” As he said that, he pulled out several medicines and a gun. Seeing Akira’s eyes widen at the latter, he said “Surprised, huh. Unfortunately, it’s just a model though so it will only make sounds. But I think it’ll at least be able to fake those monsters out.”

“Then you hold onto it. I already have Arsene in case something happens but you don’t.”

“Then are we good to go in the castle now?” asked Ryuji.

“Let’s do it.”

\----------------------

When they made their way down the dungeon, they were caught off guard and ambushed by one of the knights. It bursted into two Crypt-dwelling Pyromaniacs and a Beguiling Girl. As Akira was too focused on taking out the floating pumpkins, he didn’t notice the fairy sneaking up on Ryuji.

 _“Zio!”_ A bolt of lightning came down upon the blond. More suddenly surprised than actually injured, he impulsively aimed the gun at her and pulled the trigger. And much to his surprise, it actually fired a real bullet, knocking her down to the ground. Having defeated the other two enemies and having heard the gunshot, Akira rushed over to Ryuji’s side, calling forth Arsene.

 _“P-please! Don’t kill me”_ she pleaded.

“Whoa! Sh-She can talk?” Ryuji stammered.

“And why shouldn’t we?” Akira responded to her question with the first thing that came to mind.

 _“I-I can be of use to you! I don’t have any money or items, but I have information!”_ She sounded incredibly desperate.

Seeing a golden opportunity, Akira called back his persona. He then asked “Do you know how we can get a key to the cells?”

Her expression became filled somewhat with hope. “ _There’s a Kelpie further down. He has it.”_ Seeing their confused expressions, she elaborated. _“It looks like_ _a horse fused together with seaweed. S-So, will you p-please let me go?”_

Having taken pity on her, Akira said “Very well. Thanks for your help.”

Her face perked up with both joy and surprise. _“Really? I-I didn’t expect this. W-wait, I feel weird. Something’s happening!”_  She then suddenly went back to flying in the air. _“…Oh yeah, I remember now! I don’t belong to just King Kamoshida… I’m an existence that drifts about in the sea of humanity’s souls…  My real name…is “Pixie”! I am thou! Thou art I! From now on, I’ll live inside your heart!”_

And after saying that, the pixie briefly turned into a blue, mask-shaped energy before flying into Akira’s face. As he looked at Ryuji he asked “Are you hurt?”

“Just a little. It’s not…” But before he could finish that sentence, Akira raised his hand to his mask. “Pixie… Dia!” And just like that, that little fairy from before appeared, casting an apparent healing spell on Ryuji.

“What the eff just happened?” Akira turned to look at Ryuji, who had the most dumbfounded look on his face. “First this model gun shoots real bullets and then that monster turned into a persona! Just what is going on?”

“I’ll explain what I know later and I’m sure we’ll figure the rest out soon enough. But at least we now know what to look for. Come on, let’s look for that seaweed horse.” Akira said, as they made their way further down the dungeon. When they reached the cells, they didn’t see anybody inside of them.

“Why ain’t anybody here? Damn it, where’d they go? Wait, maybe they’re further down somewhere.” Having said that, Ryuji began sprinting further down. But before Akira could follow him, he came running back, out of breath. “There’s a lot of guards and it sounds like they’re coming this way.”

Looking around, Akira spotted a door. Gesturing Ryuji to follow him, they entered it. It was a simple room with benches and tables and a few shelves. Hiding behind one of them, they waited, hoping that the guards wouldn’t come in there and just pass by quickly. But as they were waiting, the world around them flickered, briefly turning the medieval room into a regular classroom.

“What the hell was that? Does anything in this weird world make sense?” said Ryuji. He seemed to think for a bit and then turned to Akira. “Can I see your phone again? I want to take another look at that weird app again.”

Handing him the phone, Akira moved around behind Ryuji to get a better look at it. “What’s that over there?” Akira said as he pointed to a new option that had appeared on the interface. “You mean the one that says Safe Rooms, right? Let’s check it out.”

As Ryuji pressed on that option, a menu consisting of two locations dropped down. Not sure what to do, Ryuji pressed on the one that said “Castle Gate”. And in an instant, they found themselves back there.

“W-What the…” Ryuji quickly turned his head in all directions to look around. “Did that app teleport us somehow?” Turning back to the phone, he spotted an info box on Safe Rooms. He opened it and began reading out loud:

_“A Safe Room is an area over which the Palace ruler’s control is the weakest. For this reason, shadows will not enter them. With the use of the Metaverse Navigator you can instantly travel from one to another. This includes the Palace Entrance.”_

“That explains how we got here, at least. Can you try sending us back to that other room?” Akira asked. “Sure, dude.” He watched as the world around him changed to the room from before.

“So it’s just as the app said. Well, this’ll make things easier for us.” Akira said as he sat down on one of the benches.

“You sure that coming back in here was a good idea? I mean, we don’t know if the guards are still out there.” Ryuji handed Akira his phone back.

“It said that shadows, which is what I assume those monsters are called, can’t come in here. So it’s fine.”

“If you say so. Anyway, you said you would explain what happened earlier.” Ryuji also took a seat at the table.

Akira put his elbows on the table and put his hands together. Resting his head on them, he said “What I know for sure is that when that Pixie got absorbed into my mask, I instantly knew that I could use it as a persona. And I also knew everything it could do and what its strengths and weaknesses are. As for how the model gun shot real bullets, this knife I got when I awakened to Arsene was just a model knife when I returned to reality, so I’m guessing it’s the same thing with the gun. Not sure how that works, but it makes things easier for us, so I’m not going to question it.”

Ryuji sighed. “I guess it makes about as much sense as anything else in this weird castle. How about we just try and find that horsey with the key before I bust my own skull open trying to figure all this shit out?”

“Let’s do it.”

\----------------------

After making their way further down the dungeon, they eventually found the Kelpie they were looking for. With the help of Pixie, Akira had a rather easy time defeating it and obtaining the cell keys. But as they were returning to the Safe Room, as Akira was starting to feel worn out from the battles, they were faced with a big problem. Standing in the dungeon, blocking their path to the safe room was Kamoshida(?) and a few of his knights.

“I heard about some intruders, but to think it would be you knaves again… It seems that you two don’t know your place in this world.” Kamoshida(?) scowled.

Akira immediately stepped in front of Ryuji to protect him.

“I don’t know what the hell you’re doing to all those guys you’ve got locked up in here, but we’re going to bust them out! Just you wait, Kamoshida!” Ryuji shouted, looking far more angry than Akira had ever seen him.

But instead of looking angry, Kamoshida(?) just shook his head, sighing. “I always knew you were an idiot, Sakamoto, but to think that you could be this stupid? I honestly shouldn’t be surprised.”

“The hell are you gettin’ at?”

“Those slaves belong to this world. They know that their only place is right here and that their only role is being my slaves. They grovel and toil, never making the futile mistake of trying to rise against me, the king. The same can’t be said for the likes of you.”

“I don’t care what you say. We’re not going to back down just because everyone else is too scared to stand up against you!”

Kamoshida(?) laughed. “Those are just the kind of idiotic words I expected to hear out of your mouth. Didn’t you say something along those lines to me last year, Track Traitor?”

“Ngh…” Ryuji sounded dejected at that remark.

“Track Traitor?” Akira asked.

“So you’re fighting all his battles for him without knowing anything at all? He destroyed all the hopes and dreams of teammates and yet he’s still as carefree as ever.”

“You’re lying!”

“You’ve come all this way here with that idiot and are now going to end up dead. Guards, kill both of them. I can’t stand this garbage being in my castle any longer.”

Akira shoved Ryuji behind him as two of the guards stepped forward, each bursting into a Dirty Two-horned Beast. Quickly calling forth Arsene, Akira cast Eiha on one of them. Unfortunately, it barely did any damage. Before he could try anything else, one of the shadows lunged for him and pinned him to the ground.

“Akira!” Ryuji cried out, rushing towards him. He stopped when one of knights moved their sword near Akira’s neck.

“Take one more step and the criminal gets it.” Kamoshida(?) smirked as Ryuji stopped. “What a worthless bunch of idiots. I bet you just charged in here, trying to play the heroes and ended up like this. Isn’t that right?”

“N-No…” Ryuji fell to the floor.

“What a worthless piece of trash, getting emotional so quickly… How dare you raise your hand at me. Though it was only temporary, have you forgotten how kind I was during track practice?”

“Kindness? Yeah right. All you did was abuse us cuz you didn’t like our team!”

“I was nothing but an eyesore! I am the only one who needs to achieve results! That coach who got fired was hopeless too… Had he not opposed me with a sound argument, I would have settled it with only breaking his star’s leg.”

“…What?” _Was that why Ryuji hated Kamoshida so much?_ , Akira thought.

“Should I deal with your other leg too? We both know that the school will just call it self-defense!”

Ryuji looked even more defeated than before. “Dammit… Am I gonna lose again…? Not only can I not run anymore… the track team is gone too ‘cause of this asshole…!”

Just at that moment, the knight’s boot pressed down harder against Akira’s back.

“Once this criminal has been dealt with, you’re next.” Kamoshida laughed.

Akira’s mind tried to think. How had he awakened to Arsene? His persona had asked him if he regretted standing up for that woman and… that’s it!

“Ryuji! Stand up for yourself!” he shouted.

Ryuji seemed to regain some of his spirit. “…You’re right. This asshole took everything that was important to me… I’ll never get ‘em back…!”

“Look on, as this filthy scum will die because he sided with trash like you.”

Ryuji managed to stand up off the ground again. As his anger returned to his voice he said “No… That’s what you are… All you think about is using people… You’re the real scumbag, Kamoshida!” He began taking steps toward Kamoshida(?).

“What are you doing? Silence him!”

Pointing his finger towards him, Ryuji shouted “Stop lookin’ down on me with that stupid smile on your face!”

\----------------------

_“You made me wait quite a while.”_

Right then, a great pain began filling Ryuji’s skull. “A-Aaagh…!” he screamed as he held his hands against his head. Finding it difficult to stand, he fell to the floor, writhing in pain.

_“You seek power, correct? Then let us form a pact. Since your name has been disgraced already, why not hoist the flag and wreak havoc…? The “other you” who exists within desires it thus… I am thou, thou art I… There is no turning back… The skull of rebellion is your flag henceforth!_

And just then, a mask appeared on Ryuji’s face. As he stood up again, he began using all of his strength to pull at it. When he ripped it off his face, a bright blue pillar of flames surrounded his body.

Once the flames dissipated, there was Ryuji, wearing different clothes, with a skeleton pirate persona floating over him.

“Ugh.. This one as well…”

Looking over himself, Ryuji couldn’t help but feel pleased. “Right on… Wassup, Persona… This effin’ rocks! Now that I got this power, it’s time for payback… Yo, I’m ready… Bring it!”

Ryuji just noticed Akira, who had returned to his side after the wind from the flames knocked the knight off him. The knights that were still there all bursted into various monsters.

“Blast them away… Captain Kidd!”

With both his new persona and Akira’s help, all the enemies were defeated rather quickly. But right after that, Akira grabbed his arm and began dragging him through the dungeon.

“Hey. What are you doing?” he shouted.

“Kamoshida(?)… has gone missing. I’m assuming he’s gone… to call more guards. So we’re getting out of here… now!” Akira said in between gasps for air as they ran.

Once they were inside the Safe Room, Ryuji immediately said “But what about the others who are trapped in here?” He just then noticed that they were at the castle entrance.

“We can… get them out… tomorrow…” Seeing Akira heave over and gasp for breath the way he did, Ryuji’s own fatigue began catching up with him.

“I guess we can go home for today. But you have to promise that we’ll come back tomorrow.”

Akira chuckled. “You drive a hard bargain. Very well, I shall accept your terms!” he said, whilst being needlessly dramatic.

“Thanks, man.”

And just then, the world around them turned back into normal reality.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm amazed that I managed to get the second chapter done on the same day that this story gets 100 hits.
> 
> I decided that having Akira meet Takemi and get a Pixie this early on would justify him not dying in the Palace.
> 
> Ryuji's awakening was mostly copy pasted from canon, but I felt it was too big of a scene to ignore.
> 
> I know that the beginning of this story is rather slow, but I have more exciting things planned for the later chapters. I promise.
> 
> Next time:
> 
> The boys plan their next move and Igor explains stuff because the characters figuring out basic things that everybody else already knows is fun for neither the writer nor the readers (I assume).


	3. Moments of Calm

“Hey, Shiho. Are you alright?” Ann asked.

“I-I haven’t been sleeping so well lately. There have just been too many things on my mind…” Shiho looked down at the ground, her face painted with an expression of exhaust, tiredness and just general defeat. An expression that she’s been wearing more often lately. An expression that she didn’t have back in middle school.

“Shiho…” It was times like these that Ann struggled with the most. She usually tried to put on her bravest, most cheerful face for Shiho, knowing that it made her happy, but even she couldn’t keep it up all the time.

“I’m worried about the upcoming nationals. I just don’t know if I’ll make the starting lineup. And if I do… will I be good enough?”

“Of course you will!” Ann tried to bring forth her perky cheer again. “You’ve worked harder than anyone else! So, even if it seems tough, if you keep working hard enough, you’ll succeed. And I know you can do it!”

Shiho seemed to regain a hint of a smile. “Thanks, Ann. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

Just then, Mishima showed up.

“…Sorry to interrupt.”

“N-No it’s fine. What is it?” _Please don’t be Kamoshida Please don’t be Kamoshida Plea-_

“It’s Kamoshida.” Shiho’s eyes widened with fear. “He wanted me to get you.”

“Huh? What does he want?”

“He didn’t say…”

“… I need to go.” Shiho looked so defeated, so tired of everything.

“It’s probably just a meet for tomorrow’s volleyball rally. It’ll be fine.” Ann could only hope that her words were true.

“Y-Yeah… Well, I better go.” Shiho said as she stood up.

“Yep. Good luck, Shiho.”

As she left with Mishima, Ann couldn’t help but worry. “Hang in there, Shiho…”

Just then, her phone went off, signaling an incoming text message. Checking to see what it was, she was filled with dread once she read it.

_[Kamoshida] I just wanted to let you know that I might be free this Sunday._

_[Kamoshida] So we might be able to discuss Suzui’s spot on the starting lineup at my place._

_[Kamoshida] That’s all I wanted to say. Sorry for bothering you._

Disgusting. Ann knew all too well what Kamoshida was implying. She sighed. But what could she do? If she didn’t go along with what he wanted, he’d rob Shiho of her dream.

 _It’s for Shiho._ Ann thought to herself. _Just hold out for two more years and it’ll all pay off…_

 

\----------------------

 

“That’s why you have a criminal record?!” Ryuji exclaimed.

“Not so loud!” Akira replied.  He looked around, seeing people either look at him with clearly disapproving expressions due to what was just said or just because of the noise.

After their expedition in the castle, Ryuji had invited Akira to the beef bowl shop. While they were waiting for their food to arrive, Akira had decided to open up to Ryuji about his past.

“But just hearing your story makes me so angry! So that’s why you’re living in Tokyo for the year? You and me might be more alike than I first thought.” Ryuji said whilst he was eating.

“How so?” Akira asked.

“I guess it’s how the world treats us, ya know? Like we don’t belong anywhere, even though we didn’t do anything wrong…” Ryuji emptied his bowl and looked over to Akira’s “The hell, man? Are you gonna eat or not?” The blond put some of the ginger on his beef.

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“Just lemme do it. As thanks for all you’ve done for me so far. Oh, that reminds me. Let’s go over our plan for tomorrow.” Ryuji said. ”You’ve probably heard already, but there’s a volleyball rally. It’s just a show for Kamoshida to get his ass kissed by the school even more than he usually does. But, lucky for us, once that’s done there are no classes, so we can go back there and save those guys. So what I was thinking was that we could take those guys to that Safe Room thing and get them out tha- why are you looking at me like that?”

“You’ve really put a lot of thought into this. I didn’t think you could.” Akira couldn’t help but be impressed.

“Well, when it comes to Kamoshida and his bullshit, I never could just sit there and do nothing. And- Hey!” Akira smirked. Ryuji continued speaking “Anyway, you’re the first person I’ve met who feels the same way. So I finally feel like I’ve got some real hope in doing something against him.” A smile formed on Ryuji’s face. “So I’ve got your back like you’ve got mine. And if we find some way to take down Kamoshida together, then we and everyone else will feel a lot better at school.”

Akira felt a warmth inside of his chest. When he heard that he would be transferred to Tokyo during his probation, he didn’t think he would make any friends. He could have pulled it off, but it would only last until they found out about his record. It had been that way in his home town, after all.

And when he found out that his record had been leaked, he had completely given up on the possibility of making friends. But sitting next to Ryuji, hearing him say those things, it made Akira happier than ever to be wrong.

“Oh, I almost forgot. Let’s exchange our contact info.”

 

\----------------------

 

“Welcome to the Velvet Room.” Igor said. “I thought about resuming our previous conversation tonight. That is why I have summoned you. What are your thoughts? Are you becoming accustomed to this place?”

“Yeah.” Akira found himself saying. He didn’t really know for sure if that actually was the case, but with everything that has been happening, he felt that he was going to have to get used to all the weirdness sooner or later.

“Ah. Glad to hear it. It seems you have awakened to the power of the wild card sooner than I had anticipated. This will surely prove beneficial to your rehabilitation.”

“Wild card?” Akira asked.

“I speak of the power to wield multiple personas. It is a power which has been bestowed upon you. The Velvet Room will aid you in developing and furthering it.”

“So Ryuji can’t use more than one persona? Only I can?” Akira asked.

“Indeed. The same applies to any further allies you will meet on your journey.”

Igor explained confidants and how the wild card ability works to Akira. Somehow Akira managed to form a bond with Igor then and there. Would that mean that Igor would be more forthcoming and helpful from now on?

“Now then, let us come to the main topic of this visit. You must certainly have many questions about the Metaverse.” Igor said.

“Our master has decided that a lack of an understanding of the basics would only hinder your rehabilitation. It is for this reason that we have decided to answer some of your questions and provide you with a simple explanation.” Justine said, calmly.

“So you better pay good attention, Inmate!” Caroline said, loudly.

“Let us start with the matter of shadows. You have already deduced that this refers to the enemies you encounter in palaces. However, there are different several different types of shadows. Their origin is also a matter of which you should be informed of. Girls, would you kindly explain.” Igor said.

“Shadows are a person’s true feelings, the side of themselves that they don’t show others. Shadows and personas are the same thing. A shadow becomes a persona when it manages to be tamed.” Caroline began.

Akira already had a suspicion that that was the case, with what happened with that Pixie and all, but it was good to hear it be confirmed.

“There are two types of shadows. The first are shadows belonging to individuals. Every person has one of these. As Caroline already said, by confronting it and taming it it becomes a persona. Both you and your ally have performed this action.” Justine continued.

“Are you referring to me and Ryuji gaining Arsene and Captain Kidd?” Akira asked.

“We are indeed. The palace ruler is also one of these shadows. The identifying feature of these shadows is their bright gold eyes.”

“So, the Kamoshida in the castle isn’t the one in the real world, but his shadow?” That explains his lack of a reaction at the school gate.

Caroline smirked. “Didn’t think you had those kind of thinking skills in you. I’m impressed. The other type of shadows are the ones you find lurking around the palaces. They aren’t tied to any one specific person, but are instead born from humanity as a whole. These are the kind you are able to get to become your personas with your wild card ability by negotiating with them.”

Igor began speaking. “The Velvet Room will provide services to further your wild card ability. Since you have awakened to it earlier than expected however, we will hold off on those services for a while longer. The matter of palaces is one that needs to be addressed first, in any regard.”

“Palaces? Are you talking about Kamoshida’s castle?” Akira asked. He already suspected that that castle was one from the way everyone was talking.

 “Correct. The Metaverse is based on people’s perception of the world around them. If an individual’s cognition and their desires become greatly distorted, a palace forms, with that person’s shadow as the ruler. The guard shadows you encounter in it have been swallowed up by the distortions of the palace, becoming what the palace ruler wishes them to be.” Justine said.

“I believe that this explanation will suffice for the moment. It would only hinder your rehabilitation to know everything at once. But rest assured, you will learn everything in due time. Continue devoting yourself to your rehabilitation and it may be possible to prevent ruin.“ Igor cut them off.

Akira wanted to object. Despite this lengthy explanation clearing up a few things for him, he still had many questions. But before he could say anything, he woke up in his bed again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If the last part of this chapter feels weak to anyone, it's because I just wanted to get it over and done with and stopped caring about the actual quality of the writing. Writing a filler/exposition chapter that's shorter than the last two shouldn't have taken this long to write, but it did.
> 
> I didn't initially plan for the scene with Ann, but I wanted to get a bit of practice writing her.
> 
> Next time:
> 
> Akira and Ryuji try and rescue to captive slaves and it all goes perfect. Yep, totally.


	4. Break In to Break Out

**4/13/16**

**Wednesday**

 

The volleyball rally was everything that Ryuji said it would be. Kamoshida showed off, the teachers played against the students despite that matchup being clearly unfair ( _much like the rest of the world_ the cynical part of Akira’s brain said) and nobody seemed to care that Kamoshida committed foul play by spiking that blue-haired kid in the face. But with what Akira had learned about Kamoshida and the school from Ryuji and the castle, this didn’t surprise him at all.

But, just as Ryuji had also said, there were no afternoon classes and Boss didn’t expect him to be back earlier than his usual time. Which is why he met up with the blond in the alleyway near the school.

“You’ve still got the keys, right?” Ryuji asked.

“Yes, they’re right here.” Akira replied, holding them up for him to see. When they had returned from the palace yesterday, Akira had found that the keys had gone from large, medieval looking ones to just normal keys on a chain, the kind you see every day without giving a second glance at.

“Then let’s go! We can’t let those guys be locked up any longer!” Ryuji exclaimed.

Before the blond could pull out his phone, Akira put his hand on his shoulder. “Wait. There are some things I need to tell you. I had another dream where I was in the Velvet Room again.”

“Really? What did the long-nosed guy say?” Ryuji asked. Akira explained to him about the things that Igor and the twins had told him about shadows and palaces. “So that golden-eyed Kamoshida was how he really feels? Of course that effin bastard would feel that way, with how the school treats him.”

“You really didn’t like seeing all the teachers praise him at the volleyball rally, huh?” Akira couldn’t blame him. The way the entire world seemed to love Kamoshida, it reminded him too much of the night he was arrested and everything that came after. The way the woman and the officers took the side of that man, the way the prosecutor and the judge painted him as the victim of an unprovoked rampage, the way his parents wouldn’t believe a word he said. Like he was some sort of monster for trying to help that woman. Those bastards only cared about themselves, about their damaged reputation. Not about him, the son who was left to sleep in prison on a cold, hard bed until the trial because they didn’t want to pay the bail, who was expelled from his high school without a second thought, whose “friends” cut off all contact with him, wh-

“Not the slightest effin bit.” Ryuji’s words brought Akira’s thoughts back to the present. “That’s why we gotta help those guys he’s got locked up in his castle.”

“R-right.” Akira said.

“Hey, no zoning out! This mission is really freakin important!”

Akira laughed. “Sorry. I’m just a bit nervous, that’s all.”

The blond put his hand on Akira’s shoulder "You don’t gotta worry. We both have personas now and the cells are right next to the Safe Room. We’re gonna be fine.”

Akira gave his friend a smile. “Thanks.”

“No problem. So, are we ready to go?“ Ryuji asked

“Yes, let’s do it.” Akira knew what he had to do. He couldn’t let any more people suffer. And if life had given him a break and a way to help others in a way that wouldn’t lead to him unjustly suffering, he would welcome it with open arms.

Ryuji pumped his fist. “Just you wait, Kamoshida!”

 

\----------------------

 

When the two boys left the Safe Room, they immediately found people in the cells right across from it. Rushing over to one of them, they saw the guy inside of it cower at the sight of them and back into the far back corner.

“Please, don’t hurt me!” he begged.

"We’re not going to hurt you. We’re gonna bust you out of there!” Ryuji whispered. He turned his head away from the boy and towards Akira. “Hurry up and unlock the cell.”

“Right!” Once Akira had unlocked the cell and the boys had stepped inside, the prisoner began trembling even more with fear.

He began screaming “Please, don’t take me out of here! I don’t want to be punished by King Kamoshida!”

Akira went over put his hand over the boy’s mouth. “Not so loud; we don’t want to alert the guards.” He turned to Ryuji. “Check if there are any guards coming. If not, you’ll help me get this guy to the Safe Room.”

“Got it!” Ryuji ran over to the door, looked around, ran back and said “The coast is clear! Let’s move it!”

Grabbing the boy from underneath his arms and lifting him up, Akira and Ryuji dragged him back to the Safe Room. And all the while, he was kicking and screaming.

“You don’t know how much I’ll suffer if I defy the king! Please, take me back!”

“Ryuji, quick! Take us to the castle entrance!” Once they had gotten there, the boy managed to slip out underneath them and began running away. But before Ryuji and Akira could catch up to him, his legs seemed to give out and he fell to the ground. Ryuji was the first to catch up to him, holding him down so he couldn’t try and escape again.

“Akira, take us back to the real world!”

Pressing the option on the Metaverse Navigator, he felt the familiar sharp pain in his head as the world around them warped. When they were back in reality, Akira saw that Ryuji was lying on the ground, as if he had tripped over something. He rushed to his side, helping him get up.

“Thanks. Wait… where the hell did that guy go?! I was holding onto him and then he just… vanished!” Looking around, Akira saw that the boy was nowhere to be found. As he looked as the spot where Ryuji had fallen, he saw a single piece of paper on the ground. After picking it up, he began reading what was on it.

“Name: Ohma; Subaki… Date of Birth: 06.01.2000… Blood type: B… Wait, this is just that guy’s student profile…”

“Let me see.” Akira handed him the paper. Ryuji’s face had a confused look on it. “Did we eff up somewhere?”

“I don’t know. Let’s go back and try again with some of the other guys.”

 

\----------------------

 

“GOD DAMN IT!!” Ryuji punched the wall of the alleyway. Akira looked to see if anyone had heard him, but nobody seemed to pay them any mind. “This is the fifth time we’ve done this and every time we just get a fucking student profile instead of saving a guy! Just what the hell are we doing wrong?”

“Ryuji, calm down! Yelling like that isn’t going to help anything!”

“But I’m just so pissed off! There ain’t even anything on those damn sheets of paper that could help us out!”

Akira knew that Ryuji’s words were true. The profiles had only basic info about the members of the volleyball team and a few notes on their performances in the classes. Which were barely anything as the year had just started and even if there was more, Kamoshida knew better than to put anything that could relate to the abuses on his reports.

“That reminds me, what are we going to do about them? I mean, those are confidential documents. Not the kind that we should be carrying around.”

“Can’t we just throw them in the trash?” Ryuji asked.

“Too risky.”

“Then can we just burn them?”

“Neither of us has a lighter or matches. And I have neither a fire using persona nor the energy to go to the castle and get one.”

“Then can you just take them home and hide them somewhere?”

“I was arrested once already. The last thing I want is to go through that again.”

Ryuji sighed “Then I guess I’ll take them home with me. It’s as good a plan as any, I guess.”

After Ryuji tucked them away in his bag, Akira saw how tired Ryuji looked. “Are you alright?” he asked as they began walking to the train station.

“I’m ok. It’s just… we didn’t manage to do anything. And even if we did…” He sighed, stopped, turned to look directly at him and asked “Do you still have enough strength in you to hear me out?”

Akira nodded. “Of course I do.” They continued walking.

“I’ve been thinking about this for a while now, but… even if we did manage to get those guys out… the situation in the school would still be the same. The guys would still be beaten, Kamoshida would still be doing the beating and the faculty would still be covering his ass. And both of our reputations would still be garbage. Not to mention the fact that you have to put up with this for a whole year and I for two. You get what I’m sayin?”

“I understand you. But at least we still have each other to make it somewhat more bearable. And who knows, maybe there is something somewhere in the castle that’ll allow us to put a stop to Kamoshida. I mean, we’ve only explored a small part of it.”

Ryuji let out a sigh. Akira saw that his expression hadn’t really changed much. “I know you’re trying to cheer me up, but I don’t think it’ll work today. Sorry…”

They walked a bit further in silence. Akira didn’t know what to say to him anymore. After a while, Ryuji began speaking again. “Sometimes I wonder… just what would the world be like without shitheads like Kamoshida or the guy who had you arrested or my dad. Like… why do people who just ruin everybody else's lives even exist? If they just left one day and never came back or never existed in the first place… how great would that be?”

“Your dad?” Akira asked. He saw Ryuji flinch due to the realization that he said too much.

“I’ll tell you about him some other time. I don’t got it in me to remember him and the things he did today.”

Not wanting to pry into his friend’s personal matters, Akira walked with him in silence the rest of the way to the station. Once there, they only said their goodbyes to each other as a formality before going their separate ways.

 

\----------------------

 

_“Order now and get a 10% discount on-“_

_“Detective Prince Goro Akechi solves yet another-“_

_“Maiko… why did you have to die…you were my best friend…”_

_“And now on to the weather…”_

 

Akira stopped mindlessly flipping through the channels on the big TV down in Leblanc. When he had returned to his room and went to bed, he found that he couldn’t fall asleep. So he went downstairs to see if there was anything on TV that could get his mind off of things. Unfortunately, there was not. Taking out his phone, he began texting Ryuji.

 

_[Akira] How are you feeling?_

_[Ryuji] still shitty_

_[Ryuji] you?_

_[Akira] tired._

_[Akira] we spent all that time planning and trying to get those guys out and we accomplished nothing_

_[Ryuji] too true_

_[Ryuji] still wonderin why those guys turned into pieces of paper_

_[Ryuji] wait_

_[Ryuji] you don’t think that killed them?_

_[Akira] youre just now thinking of that_

_[Ryuji] YOU DIDNT THINK OF IT EATHER_

_[Akira] sorry_

_[Akira] youre right_

_[Akira] im just so tired_

_[Ryuji] me too_

_[Ryuji] still, got any ideas?_

Akira tried to think about what could have happened. Igor (or was it one of the twins?) said that the castle was a product of Kamoshida’s distorted cognition and that his shadow was the ruler. So logically, Kamoshida’s shadow would know things about the palace that they didn’t. He thought back on the various things that bastard had said to them and then two things stuck out to him like a pair of sore thumbs.

 

_“I always knew you were an idiot, Sakamoto, but to think that you could be this stupid? I honestly shouldn’t be surprised.”_

_“Those slaves belong to this world. They know that their only place is right here and that their only role is being my slaves. They grovel and toil, never making the futile mistake of trying to rise against me, the king. The same can’t be said for the likes of you.”_

 

Kamoshida had said that. When Akira remembered those lines, a few things struck him as odd.

 

  1. _“The same can’t be said for the likes of you.”_ Did that mean that the guys in the cells were different from him and Ryuji? When Akira and Ryuji had started their plans, they thought that the people in the castle were Shujin students who had also gotten trapped in it. But what if that fundamental assumption was false? Thinking back on things, he realized that there was no sign that any of the students were missing from the school.



 

  1. _“Those slaves belong to this world.”_ If the slaves in the castle weren’t real students, then did that mean that they were just part of the castle itself?



 

  1. _“I always knew you were an idiot, Sakamoto, but to think that you could be this stupid? I honestly shouldn’t be surprised.”_ Kamoshida had called Ryuji an idiot when he had told him about their plans to break out the prisoners. Had Kamoshida known all along that their plan wouldn’t work?



 

And then it dawned on Akira. He hadn’t really taken much note of it at the time, but when he thought about it, the dungeon had been suspiciously undermanned when he and Ryuji were there. Kamoshida knew that they were wasting their time trying to get the slaves out of his castle, so he felt that they weren’t even worth bothering with.

But then, just what were the guys in the cells? If the school itself became a castle because that was Kamoshida’s cognition of it, then what would the people inside the school become?

   


_[Akira] I think I’ve got it figured out._

_[Ryuji] For real?_

_[Ryuji] So what happened?_

_[Akira] this is just a theory, buuutttt.._

_[Akira] you know how, because Kamoshida sees himself as the king of Shujin it actually became a castle in the Metaverse_

_[Ryuji] yeah_

_[Akira] well, what im thinking is that cuz he sees the guys on the volleyball team as idiots that he can do whatever he wants with, they became his slaves in the castle_

_[Akira] at least, that’s what im thinking_

_[Akira] I don’t know if this is true or not_

_[Akira] ill ask Igor about it the next time I see him_

_[Ryuji] guess well just have to wait and see_

_[Ryuji] anyway, I thought of something too_

_[Ryuji] when I looked at these profiles I thought:_

_[Ryuji] maybe we could try and talk to these guys_

_[Ryuji] like, maybe see if there’s someone out there who wont keep quiet about Kamoshida’s bullshit_

_[Akira] so you want to just go up and talk to them and ask them about the abuses?_

_[Ryuji] yep, pretty much_

_[Ryuji] anyway, ill tell you more about it tomorrow_

_[Ryuji] alright, see ya_

_[Akira] good night_

 

Putting his phone away, Akira sighed and laid down on the counter.

All he could do at the moment was wait for tomorrow and hope it went better than today.

But then, as he went upstairs to get in his bed and maybe get some sleep, one thought crossed his mind:

Doing good and getting punished for it or not getting punished but also not doing any good. Were those the only two things he could do?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time:
> 
> Akira goes along with Ryuji's plan and visits Takemi.
> 
>  
> 
> Also, I'd appreciate some comments so I know that people actually read this story and I'm not wasting my time with this.  
> Next chapter might take longer because I haven't been feeling so great lately.


	5. Expose the Malice

_As Akira stared at the ceiling, he wondered what his life had become in just one night._

_It had all happened both far too fast and far too slow. First he heard the woman screaming. Then he was rushing over to them. Then some things were said. Then the drunk guy, whose face Akira couldn’t remember anymore, fell down on his own, but claimed that Akira was the one who had assaulted him. And that woman had just gone along with his demands to lie to the cops, who just arrested him without even bothering to listen to what he had to say._

_And now he was here, in the town’s holding cell, laying face up on the bed which was just barely more comfortable than the concrete floor. He was pretty sure that his back was going to kill him in the morning._

_After a while, he heard the sound of the door being unlocked. An officer entered and said “Kurusu, get up. Your parents are here. Follow me.”_

_When he saw them again, they had the most disapproving and disgusted expressions he had ever seen on their faces. Just as he had sat down, they immediately began yelling at him._

_“You stupid child! What have you done?” his mother shouted with a cold and dismissive look in her eyes._

_He hunched over and sank into his seat. Akira had already suspected that they would act like this. His parents were never really the model examples of what he thought parents should be. They rarely acknowledged him, never really gave him any more attention or care than the bare minimum. He suspected that they themselves had never wanted a child in the first place and only had him due to the expectations of others._

_"There was a man trying to force himself on a woman.” He began explaining “I just tried to get him off her but then he fell down on his own and the next thing I know he’s threatening the woman and the officers to say that I assaulted him.”_

_His father’s brow creased in disbelief. “That’s not what the police told us. They told us that you just went and shoved the man down to the ground. The woman who was there said the same thing. He’s pressing charges and suing us for your assault.”_

_“Do you have any idea what kind of trouble you have gotten us in, young man?”_

_Akira wasn’t surprised by this reaction. He had grown used to being treated this way, with his parents immediately assuming that things were his fault if something went wrong._

_“L-look, it wasn’t my fault! I was only trying to help her! I didn’t do anything wrong! Why won’t either of you two listen to me!” he knew that lashing out against them was a bad idea, but he just couldn’t keep his anger down anymore. When he caught his breath, he noticed that his parents had gone silent._

_“First you assault a man, ruining our family’s reputation, and now you lash out against us?!” his mother sneered._

_“That’s it! Akira Kurusu, you will not be coming home with us!” his father shouted._

_“Y-You’re just going to leave me here?” Akira couldn’t believe what he was hearing. His stomach was feeling so cold and empty that he almost felt like that one time where he had eaten some bad tempura and spent the entire night in front of the toilet throwing up._

_“We don’t have any money to waste on a problem child like you. You’re staying here until the trial.”_

_Feeling defeated and tired, he didn’t say anything else to them after that. As they left and the cop escorted him back to his cell, a part of him was glad that he wouldn’t have to see them for at least a few days. But Akira wondered about what would happen to him from this point onward. Surely, he wouldn’t actually be sentenced guilty for trying to help stop a crime, right?_

_Right?_

 

\----------------------

 

**4/14/16**

**Thursday**

 

“When I spoke to Igor last night, he said that those guys were in fact born from Kamoshida’s cognition and that saving them was a fool’s errand.” Akira explained to Ryuji, with whom he had met up on the roof of the school.

“The hell?! Why didn’t he tell you that earlier, instead of watching us wasting days on that stupid plan?!”

“It would be counterproductive to your rehabilitation if you were to know everything at once. We are permitted to impart certain wisdom upon you, but other things are best learned through one’s own experiences.” Akira said in his best Igor impression, which was just the deepest, most condescending voice he could muster, while raising a finger in the air like a stern teacher.

“So he was just trolling us?”

“Pretty much.” Akira said. “But I’m not too worried about those lost days, honestly. It’s not like we were on a deadline or anything.”

“I guess you’re right. No point thinkin about it now, after all. Anyway, here’s the plan I was talking about: We go into the castle, find those guys that are in there, take pictures of their faces and try and talk to them tomorrow.”

Akira wasn't sure how to react to that plan. On its own the plan was fairly solid. It was just that he knew first hand how people would rather keep quiet about wrongs than speak up about them. But looking at Ryuji's face, he didn't have the heart to tell him that. It would feel like wounding a puppy. And who knows? Maybe the students of Shujin might be more willing to speak up than that woman was.

“Sounds good. By the way, what did you do with the student profiles from yesterday?”

“I left em at home. Stuffed them under the futon so mom wouldn’t find them.”

“You sure that’s a good idea?” Akira wondered.

“She’s at work all day, so it should be fine…” Ryuji perked up. “So, are you ready to do this?”

“Let’s do it.”

 

\----------------------

 

„Kamoshida’s Training Hall of Love? What kind of bullshit is this?“ Ryuji looked in disbelief at the banner above the weirdly pink door.

“Do you want to go in first?” Akira teased.

“Y-you do it…”

When Akira slowly opened the door, they heard a scream coming from further down. After exchanging a glance with each other, they quickly ran towards the source.

“What the?” Ryuji was stunned at the sight before them. Looking through the bars, they saw various knights beating up boys in the Shujin gym uniform, who were tied up to a volleyball net. “What kind of effed up bullshit is this?!”

Akira was speechless. Unlike Ryuji, he just stood there, not knowing what to say.

“I knew that Kamoshida was doing awful shit to them, but if this is his cognition of his actions… just what the hell are they going through in reality?” Ryuji pulled out his phone. “Wait, why’s the camera app not workin?”

Akira turned to look at Ryuji’s phone and he saw that no matter how many times the blond tapped at the app, it wouldn’t open. Pulling out his own phone, Akira did the same thing and got the exact same results. He then decided to try and open some of his other apps, which also didn’t work.

“Guess we can only use the Metaverse Navigator, huh?”

"For real?” Ryuji sighed. “Fine. Then I’ll just have to try and memorize their faces by myself.”

As the blond was focusing and trying to get a good look at their faces, some more boys in gym uniforms came walking by.

“Stop it! Just leave us alone.” One of them pleaded.

“If we obey the king, we won’t be punished like the two of you.” Said another.

Ryuji looked irritated, but turned to Akira. “Come on, let’s go and see if we can find some more guys.”

When they went further down, they saw students having to run on a treadmill from a spikes cylinder towards some water, some students locked in cells and even a single student who was hanging upside down as a cannon shot at him.

“How the hell can that asshole even call this coaching?!” Ryuji looked like he was about to explode.

“Wait, is that one of the guys we tried to get out yesterday?” Akira said after trying to get a better look at his face.

“Yeah, you’re right. Seems that they’ll eventually be restored by this world on their own. Guess that Igor guy was right when he said that they weren’t actually real people.“ Ryuji backed away from the bars. “Well, we did everything we needed to do here. I got all their faces memorized, so let’s go home now.”

 

\----------------------

 

“Oh, you’re back.” Akira heard those familiar words as he entered Leblanc again. Sojiro was standing behind the counter, wiping it off. As Akira was about to go past him to get to his room, he stopped in his tracks when the man spoke to him. “You still have some time before you need to go to Takemi, right? Then get over here and help me out with these dishes.” He pointed to the kitchen area, where a rather large pile of plates and coffee cups were placed more precariously crooked than the leaning tower of Pisa.

“I don’t wanna…” Akira said, pouting and also fearing for his own safety.

Sojiro scowled “No buts. Get changed and then get to work.”

Knowing a losing argument when he saw one, he went upstairs to change out of his school uniform and went back down to do what he was told. After a while, Sojiro began speaking. “So, how’s your new school life? Have you made any friends?”

Akira was surprised at this. He hadn’t really guessed Sojiro as being someone who would try and make small talk with him like this. Then again, he hadn’t had much interaction with his guardian due to always being tired from going to the castle.

“My record’s been leaked.” He found himself saying.

The man sighed. “That’s… unfortunate. How are you holding up?”

Akira sighed. “It’s… manageable. I’ve made one friend, at least.”

“Good to hear. Still, you do seem rather worried about something. Mind telling me what it is?” Sojiro said while tending the siphons.

“Why do you want to know?” he wondered.

“I don’t have a kid of my own, but I know enough about them to know that they sometimes get some sort of problem, but won’t tell an adult about it. And then, sooner or later, the problem will be too big for them to handle."

Akira wasn’t sure how to react to this. What would happen if he told Sojiro about Kamoshida? The worst thing he could probably do was just tell him off.

“It’s just… there’s this guy at Shujin. He constantly bullies others. Everybody knows what he’s doing but nobody does anything about it. I want to do something to stop it, but I’m not sure if it’ll work out.”

“Kid, listen. I know you mean well, but don’t get yourself into any trouble by stirring up conflict. I mean, just look at what happened last time. The last thing you need is to get expelled because you got yourself involved in some mess you couldn’t handle.”  And there was the constant lecture about and reminder of his current situation again. The world sure as hell couldn’t give Akira enough of that, now could it?

Sojiro looked at his watch. “Looks like it’s time for you to go to Takemi. I’ll leave the door unlocked, so just lock it when you get back.”

After leaving the café and while on the short walk to the clinic, Akira realized that he hadn’t really thought up an excuse for why his body was suddenly bruise-less. Just as he reached the door, he decided to just try and wing it.

“Hello” he said as he entered.

Takemi looked up from behind the counter. “Oh, you’re here. Follow me.”

Once they were in the examination room, Akira took his shirt off. She gave him the most dumbfounded glance when she saw his unwounded chest. After she wiped it down with a wet rag to make sure he wasn’t concealing anything with make-up, she began speaking.

“I’m not even going to bother asking.” She deadpanned. He was both rather baffled by how she didn't seem to care about something so out of the ordinary and relieved that he didn't have to try and explain it. “But, since you seem to have made a full recovery already, I don’t need to keep you here any longer. You can go now.”

“Um… if it’s not too much to ask… could I have some more of that ointment you gave me the other day? Please? I can pay for them!” Akira didn’t want to sound that desperate, but he really wanted some more healing items that weren’t those breads from the school store that barely did anything (except for maybe the Yakisoba Pan, but he hadn’t tried that one yet).

“I guess I could sell you a few basic medicines. Just don’t tell anyone about this. So, what do you want?”

After stocking up on a few more healing items, Akira left the clinic. Once he got outside, however, he heard some men talking nearby.

 

_“You sure she’s selling some sort of super drugs she cooked up herself?”_

_“Positive. Stuff that can apparently give people unlimited power.”_

_“I doubt it’s that powerful. Still, I should tell him about this…”_

 

Akira wondered what they were talking about. He’d have to ask Takemi about it some time. But not today, as he was feeling tired and just wanted to get to bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From next week onwards I might be able to get these chapters written faster. My writing for this story is a mess. Sometimes I work on the next chapter, sometimes I write for some other stories I have planned and sometimes I write entire scenes for later in this story all in one sitting.
> 
> Also, I really aprechiate feedback from you guys. Gives me motivation to work harder.
> 
> Next time:
> 
> The boys try and talk to the members of the volleyball team and Ann begins getting more involved.


	6. How can you tell us that we are wrong?

**4/15/16**

**Friday**

 

When Akira woke up that morning, he felt his phone buzzing the moment he turned it on. Looking at the screen, he saw that he already had some messages from Ryuji.

 

_[Ryuji] Dude, are you there?_

_[Ryuji] I need to tell you something important!_

_[Akira] What is it?_

_[Ryuji] I need you to meet up with me in front of the school before class starts._

_[Ryuji] There’s something important we need to discuss._

_[Akira] Can’t you just tell me now?_

_[Ryuji] I’d rather tell you there._

_[Akira] Fine._

_[Ryuji] Good. I’ll be waiting in front of the gate._

_[Ryuji] See you then._

 

\----------------------

 

“Good, you’re here.” Ryuji said when he saw Akira walking towards where he was standing by the school gate.

“So why did you call me here this early?” he said, while yawning.

“When I thought about our plan to talk to the guys and getting em to fess up about the abuses, I realized that if we try and do it after school, most of em will be gone by that point. So I’ve decided that we’re gonna do it during lunch instead.“ Ryuji explained.

Akira then did that weird thing with his glasses where you couldn’t see his eyes. “And you couldn’t just tell me this over the phone because…?”

“Cuz I needed to give you these. Here, take them.” Ryuji shoved snippets of paper, roughly half the size of playing cards, into Akira’s hands.

“What are these?” he asked.

“I cut out the photos of those guys from the profiles. Since you’re new to the school, I wrote their names and classes on the back so you can find them. You’re going to talk to these guys while I’ll take care of some others. If we split up we can cover a lot more ground. Someone’s gotta be willing to spill about the abuses, and we’ll find them.”

Akira stared at the pieces of paper for a while before speaking “You still could have told me all of this stuff over the phone and just given me the notes before class. You didn’t need to get me here this early.”

“Yeah, but you know what they say. The early bird gets the… something… L-Look it doesn’t matter now. All that matters is that we put a stop to Kamoshida.”

Akira sighed. “I guess you’re right. By the way, what did you do with the rest of the student profiles?”

“Eh. I just threw them in a public trash can.”

Akira just stared at him, dumbfounded.

“What?! Nobody saw me!” was how Ryuji defended himself.

“Ryuji… Don’t quit your day job.”

“What the eff does that mean?”

 

\----------------------

 

Once the bell for lunch break rang, Ryuji immediately made his move. He decided to start with a guy from class 2C, since it wasn’t too far from his class room. Walking up to him, he said “Hey, can I talk to you?”

The boy instantly tensed up at the sight of him. “Huh, Sakamoto? What do you want with me?”

“Relax, you don’t gotta be afraid. I just wanna ask you some stuff. Is it true that Kamoshida’s been physically abusing you?”

The boy seemed to shrink into himself once he heard that. “O-Of course not. Why would you even ask that?”

“Dude, I’m not blind. I can see the bandage wrapped around your leg.” Ryuji said while pointing to it. “Look, I won’t tell anyone you squealed. Just fess up already.”

He suddenly got all defensive. “Just stop it! There’s no point in talking about this! Just leave me alone!” Then he suddenly ran out of the room.

Before Ryuji tried to chase after him, he saw the other students in the class room giving him various cold stares. How could everyone act like he was a literal hell spawn but approve of Kamoshida and all his bullshit?

Knowing he wouldn’t get anything done by just standing there, he made his way up to the third floor, as he knew of some first years who had recently joined the team. It hasn’t even been a month since they joined Shujin, so maybe Kamoshida hadn’t gotten his bullshit into their heads yet. Seeing them standing near the boy’s bathroom, he went up to them.

“Hey, can I ask you something?”

They both stared at him.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make it quick. Is Kamoshida abusing you?”

One of them quickly responded, almost as if he’d been trained to do so. “Of course not! Don’t say such things!”

“Dude, I’m not the smartest guy around, but even I can tell that that’s a load of bullshit. So just…”

Just then, a third boy came out of the restroom. “Okay, I’m done. Are we going to get lunch now?” His eyes widened when he saw Ryuji. “Wait, isn’t this that Sakamoto guy we’ve been told to avoid? I heard you can easily spot him with his dyed blond hair. It’s one of the first signs of a trouble maker, after all.”

“Oh, yeah. I heard he hangs out with the criminal transfer student all the time. They say that they both disappear after school to do all kinds of illegal things.” He said as if Ryuji _wasn’t_ standing right in front of him.

“Really? Then I don’t want to be anywhere near him!”

“Hey, I’m not done talking he-“ The boys were already out of the range of his voice.

Ryuji felt anger building up in his stomach. _How can everyone just let all of Kamoshida’s shit slide while treating me like the scum of the earth?”_ he thought to himself. He then sighed. After all, he was already all too familiar with the reason why. _It’s no use thinking about it now. There are still some more guys I need to talk to…_

With that calming thought in his mind, he began making his way.

He tried to talk to talk to a few more members of the volleyball team, but all of them gave him the same results. As he walked around some more, trying to find someone else to speak to, he bumped into someone while turning a corner, causing both of them to fall to the ground.

“Ow…” Lifting his head up, he saw that the girl had dropped her notes from bumping into him. Ryuji bent down, picked some of them up and handed them back to her.

“Here.”

“Thanks…” she said.

Wait… he recognized that voice. When he looked at her face, he was surprised to see who that girl was.

“Suzui-san?”

This was not who Ryuji had expected to run into. He hadn’t really spoken to Suzui at all since middle school, and even then it was only when Takamaki was with her. So he didn’t know how to react when he was with her on her own. Although, speaking of middle school, he couldn’t help but notice just how lifeless and tired her look had become since then. Whenever he had seen her talking to Takamaki, she always looked so happy, so energetic, so proud of her dream to become a professional volleyball pl-…

_Oh… right… that’s why…_

He guessed his feelings must’ve shown up on his face. “Um… are you okay…? You’re not letting anything get to you, are you?” She asked, her voice sounding far more weak than caring, which is what she seemed to be going for.

“No… I’m fine.” He lied out of habit, which he regretted right away on the inside. Of course he wasn’t fine! How could he be fine with Kamoshithead still not behind bars or something!

“That’s good to hear.” She smiled very weakly. “By the way… You’re friends with the transfer student, right?” she asked.

“Yeah. Why?”

“I’ve heard people say a lot of bad things about him. He’s not letting those rumors get to him, is he?”

“He’s got a bunch of other things on his mind on his moment. Oh, that reminds me. You’re on the volleyball team, right? Can I ask you something?”

She tensed up at the mention of the volleyball team, but answered him with “S-Sure. What is it?”

However, before Ryuji could start asking his questions, he was cut off.

“What are you two talking about?” a voice that both Ryuji and Suzui knew all too well said.

“Kamoshida?!” Ryuji could feel his leg twitching at just the sight of him.

“I didn’t expect you to be spending time with this piece of garbage, Suzui-chan. You really shouldn’t be spending time with such bad influences.” He said, with the biggest shit eating grin on his face.

“Uh huh.” Her response sounded so empty, it made Ryuji sick to his stomach.

“That’s what I wanted to hear. Also, you’d better get to the changing rooms. Gym class is about to start soon, after all.” _God, could he sound any more disgustingly cheerful?!_

“Well, I have to go. Bye.” Ryuji could tell that she didn’t want to be anywhere near him. He knew the face she was making all too well. In this situation, he wanted to do something, anything. Seeing Kamoshida, well… be Kamoshida was the absolute worst possible thing for him. But here, he couldn’t do anything. All Ryuji could do was watch as she was forced to go along with what that asshole wanted, to go to the regularly scheduled physical abuse. Hearing the bell signal the end of lunch break, he went back to his classroom. While Ushimaru was rambling on about cabinets or something (most of what that uptight old geezer said went in one of Ryuji’s ears and right out the other), he got out his phone and opened the chat app.

 

_[Ryuji] How’d it go for you?_

_[Ryuji] Did you learn anything?_

_[Akira] I found out that the Yakisoba Pan is objectively the best bread the school store sells._

_[Ryuji] I MEANT ABOUT THE ABUSES!!_

_[Akira] Oh. That._

_[Akira] Guess…_

_[Ryuji] No luck either for you, huh?_

_[Akira] Nope. Everyone either denied the abuses or refused to have anything to do with me._

_[Ryuji] You sure you didn’t get anything at all?_

_[Ryuji] Not even someone’s name?_

_[Akira] I heard about some guy named Mishima who apparently gets “special coaching” from Kamoshida._

_[Akira] But how am I supposed to know who the hell that is?!_

_[Ryuji] Mishima…_

_[Ryuji] Oh, I remember now! He’s in your class._

_[Akira] Really? Then which one is he?_

_[Ryuji] I think he had dark blue hair…_

_[Akira] Oh, yeah. I think see him._

_[Akira] He’s the scrawny looking one, right?_

_[Ryuji] Yep._

_[Akira] Then I’ll try and catch him after class ends._

_[Ryuji] Got it. I’ll head there as soon as I can._

 

Just as he hit the send button on the last text, he felt the full force of a piece of chalk from Ushimaru hitting him right in the forehead.

“No slacking off!” He then turned to address the class. “This is what happens when you don’t follow the rules of society! You end up as a piece of worthless garbage like him!”

Rubbing his temple, Ryuji could already feel the disgust building up in his gut again.

_Rules of society?! All those oh so important rules are good for is allowing shit like this or Kamoshida to fly! Doesn’t anybody care about the abuse at all?!_

 

\----------------------

 

“You’re Mishima, right?”

“Y-Yes…”

“Can I talk to you?” Akira asked the boy.

“Um…” His eyes shifted back and forth from the door to Akira.

“I’m not going to hurt you; I just want to talk.” After everything Akira had been through today, this reaction didn’t surprise him at all.

“Oh… okay…” He stammered, like Akira was going to pull out a knife and gut him like a fish or something. Like Akira had some reason to really hate and want to hurt him. At least, that was the picture the rumors at the school painted of him. Speaking of which, the classroom was surprisingly quiet. Turning his head and looking around, he saw that they were the only people in the room.

“I’m just going to cut right to the point: How is Kamoshida abusing you?”

“W-What are you talking about? Kamoshida-sensei would never…”

“Just cut the bullshit, Mishima. We already know.” said Ryuji as he walked into the room.

“Sakamoto? You too?” he looked surprised.

“We already know that Kamoshida’s abusing you. So just fess up.” Ryuji said.

“Y-You don’t have any proof of that!”

“I saw him spike you right in the face the other day. And I know for a fact that he did it on purpose.” Akira replied, to disprove his statement.

“That was only because I’m not good at the sport. I’m not even a regular, after all.”

“But that doesn’t explain any of the other bruises you’ve got.” Ryuji said.

“We don’t want to hurt you, so please jus-“ Akira was surprised as he was cut off.

“Look, just stop it!” Mishima suddenly got a lot louder than he was before. “I know what you’re trying to do! But trying to get people to confess about the abuses won’t work at all! Not when the principal, all the teachers and all the parents already know about and are fine with it!” He took some breaths after his outburst.

“E-Even the parents?” Ryuji stammered.

“You see? There’s no hope for us whatsoever! So just give up and be glad that Kamoshida isn’t going after you two personally anymore!” After shouting those uncomfortable words at them, Mishima ran off. They could only watch, dumbfounded.

“This has got to be a joke, right…?” Ryuji asked. “The parents can’t actually be fine with this, right?”

“I don’t think this is a joke, Ryuji…” were the words that came out of Akira’s mouth. He knew all too well about parents who would rather take the side of awful people over the side of children, after all.

“But still…” Ryuji looked like a kicked puppy right now.

“Look, I know how you feel. Let’s just try and talk about what just happened and try to see what we should do. But not here. This silence is starting to creep me out, honestly.” Akira said.

“I guess you’re right. Well, I gotta go take a leak. I’ll meet up with you by the vending machines, okay?”

Akira watched Ryuji leave. But just as he exited the classroom, a voice stopped him.

“Hey, Kurusu…”

 

\----------------------

 

After the classes were over, Ann watched from outside of the classroom as Kurusu got up and went to talk with Mishima about Kamoshida. She wasn’t surprised to see Sakamoto eventually join in on the conversation, what with his history with the man and his rumored friendship with the black-haired boy. Eventually, the three of them parted ways and Ann made her move to speak with the glasses wearing boy.

“Hey, Kurusu…”

He turned to look at her. “What is it?”

“Can you come with me? It won’t take long. I just need to talk to you.” And just as she said that, the rumors started up again. Of course they did.

 

_“Takamaki and the criminal transfer student… That’s quite the combination…”_

_“That bitch has no standards at all!”_

_“Though it’s not surprising in the slightest…”_

_“I wonder what they’re planning…”_

_“I hope it’s nothing indecent!”_

_“Don’t jinx it!”_

 

“Just ignore them…” she sighed. “So, are you coming?”

“Y-yeah.” He said, looking a bit nervous.

They made their way to the vending machines in the court yard. Once they were there, Ann began asking the first of many questions she had for him.

“So, what was the deal with you being half a day late on your first day? I saw you that morning, so don’t lie and say you were sick.”

Kurusu tensed up at that question. “I-I got lost…”

“Right…” She said, making sure he heard how she didn’t believe him. “So how come nobody could find you or Sakamoto anywhere after class? Mind telling me where you were during those times?”

“We were just… hanging out. Why are you asking about this?” he answered.

“Hey, what are you doing with him?” a voice familiar to her said. She turned and saw Sakamoto walking towards them. Good. She needed to talk to him too.

“Just asking him a few questions. And since you’re here, I can just get right to the elephant in the room. What are you doing to Mister Kamoshida?” she said, the unpleasant feeling rising in her gut as she spoke that bastard’s name.

“Huh?” His expression turned sour as well. “Oh, I see. You’re all buddy-buddy with him after all. Of course you’d stick up for him.”

“Don’t change the subject, Sakamoto! I’m asking the questions here!”

“Then let me ask you this. Are you just okay with him doing whatever he wants to Suzui behind your back?”

“What are you talking about?” she asked. Ann did not expect that question at all. Nor did she like where the conversation was going.

“Don’t play dumb! I’ve seen her today and I can tell that she’s suffering under that asshole’s abuse. So I’m not buying it for a second that you don’t know anything! So how can you be fine with dating him when he’s pulling that kind of shit?!”

That struck a nerve. Ann couldn’t believe that he had the nerve to say those kinds of things when he didn’t know anything about her. She took a breath. She couldn’t let herself get riled up by him and make the situation worse. Just say what needs to be said and then leave.

“Look, people are already talking about you. I don’t know what you’re trying to pull, but nobody is going to help you. I’m warning you, just in case. That’s all.”

And with those words, Ann left them.

 

\----------------------

 

“Do you know her?” was the first thing Akira asked Ryuji after Takamaki left them. He had mostly watched, since they were mostly talking about things he knew nothing about.

Ryuji sighed “Eh, we just went to the same middle school.”

“Oh. Why’d you fall out with her?” he asked.

“It just kinda happened once we entered high school. Anyways, that’s not what we’re here to talk about.” Ryuji said.

“Right. The abuses.”

“I just can’t believe that nobody in the school other than us is actually bothered by the shit they’re letting Kamoshida get away with. Like, even the principal know, for fucks sake! And then there’s the fact that the parents know but are totally fine with all of this! Like, just how can they do that?!” the blond complained as he sat down on the bench.

“When I told my legal guardian that there was a guy bullying others but was getting away with all of it, he just told me to keep my head down and not get expelled a second time. He didn’t seem to care at all about the real problem. And that’s not even getting into how my doctor, the only other adult I really know, was somehow even more apathetic than him.” Seriously, he still couldn’t figure out how Takemi did not give a single shit about something so blatantly unusual.

“But still, isn’t there a single adult who can help us?” Ryuji asked.

“I guess not. It seems that we’re the only ones who still care in this whole school. Heck, maybe even the whole world!” Akira replied.

“So what now?” Ryuji asked

Akira thought for a bit and then said “I think we should go back to the Metaverse and explore the castle some more. I mean, we’ve only seen a small part of it, after all.”

“Sounds good.” Ryuji got up and stretched. “Well, see you tomorrow.”

“Bye.” Akira watched Ryuji walk away. Once the blond was out of his sight, Akira sat down and rested his head in his arms. This day was a disaster. He had already suspected that this would be the result of their actions, but to think about how something might happen didn’t feel anywhere near as disheartening as experiencing it firsthand.

Maybe there really is no way for the problem to be resolved. Maybe all of their actions will only lead to this outcome.

Wait, what was he thinking? Things might be difficult, but giving up is the last thing to do in this situation.

He just needed to keep looking for a way to dethrone the king of Shujin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry that this chapter took so long to make. The weather was not agreeing with me at all. I just hope the fact that this chapter is longer than usual makes up for it.
> 
> And as always, comments and constructive criticism very much welcome.
> 
> Next time:
> 
> Kamoshithead makes a move.


	7. A Flower In Its Prime

**4/16/16**

**Saturday**

 

 _“…I am thou. Thou art I. From now on, call me Bicorn. No need for honorifics, sonny.”_ said the dirty two horned beast before turning into another one of Akira’s Personas. Akira could feel the power of Bicorn flowing within him now. He could also feel just how crowded his within currently was. Like, it wasn’t a problem right now, but if he wanted to get anymore Personas he’d have to let some of his old ones go. And he really didn’t feel like he wanted to do that.

After picking up the hundreds of yen that the other shadows dropped, Akira and Ryuji made their way further down the halls of the castle.

“Dude, look over there!” Ryuji shouted, pointing at something. Looking to where the blond was pointing, Akira saw a pair of doors in the wall, which were semi-transparent. Going up to open them, they saw that the room they had just found was thankfully another safe room.

“Sweet!!” Ryuji let out a sigh of relief as he collapsed onto one of the chairs. Akira felt pretty much the same way. Right now, his body almost felt like melting into pudding. When he also sat himself at the table, he instantly found his entire upper body pressed against the hard wooden surface. Hearing his phone ping, he mustered up enough strength to move his arm to get it. When he looked at the app, he saw that it was just a notification for the newest safe room: the West Building1F. Great. They’ve probably only explored a small fraction of the palace.

“What the…?” Ryuji looked like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. “Akira, dude, it wasn’t that exhausting.”

“Yeah, for you! You didn’t have to use all of your energy casting healing spells with your Persona because your partner was constantly using health draining physical attacks!” he complained.

“Okay, so maybe it was that exhausting…” Ryuji admitted.

Ryujiii…” Akira moaned “I don’t think I can do any more of this today.”

Ryuji sighed. “Fine… I guess we can go home for today. I can’t stand seein you be all mopey like this.”

“Thanks.”

But as Akira and Ryuji were walking away from the castle, Akira saw a flash of light in the corner of his eye. Turning to look at the source, he saw Justine standing next to a blue door with iron bars. The door suddenly swung open. She began speaking. “Our master wishes to speak with you.” Justine gestured to the door. “Please, follow me.”

Too tired to try and argue with or question her, Akira dragged his limp body to the door.

Once he passed through the door, he found himself in the Velvet room again, wearing his prison attire, as always. Igor was also sitting at his desk with his legs crossed.

“The prisoner has returned!” Caroline reported to Igor.

“Good.” He began. ”It seems that we can now begin with the matter for which I have summoned you here. I believe that now is an opportune time to explain one of the Velvet Room’s most notable features: The fusion of Personas.”

Akira listened as the concept of Persona fusion was explained to him. He was then told to give them to of his Personas, which were going to be used for some sort of fusion. While the idea of sending those aspects of him to be beheaded made him feel sick to his stomach with unease and uncertainty, he knew that he wasn’t going to be able to get out of this situation.

After some consideration, he settled for giving up his Jack-O-Lantern and his newly obtained Bicorn.

Akira watched as the two Personas, the two aspects of himself, had cloths put on them and were put under the guillotines. He couldn’t look as the blades fell down, but once they did, he felt their essence combine into a new Persona. He held his hand out to receive his new mask, a Saki Mitama.

“A successful fusion indeed.” Igor said. Was he praising the twins or Akira?

Igor began speaking again. “Unfortunately, it has not gained any of the additional strength which comes from forging bonds with others, as you seem to have neglected to do so. On that note, it also seems as though you have made rather limited progress with confronting the sinner of lust and bringing his evils to a just end.”

 _Sinner of lust?”_ Akira thought. Why that title for Kamoshida?

“If you continue down this path, it will become impossible to prevent ruin and your rehabilitation will have been all for naught.”

“So pick up the slack and put some more effort into what you’re doing, Inmate!” Caroline shouted. So first he was being told off for trying to stop Kamoshida and now he was being scolded for not stopping Kamoshida fast enough, apparently. Just great.

But… Akira couldn’t say that they were wrong. Not when every attempt to do so had been a complete disaster. Even now, they still didn’t have any sort of real plan for putting a stop to what Kamoshida was doing. Sure, they were exploring his palace, but what could they do once it was completely mapped out?

“I hope that you will overcome your shortcomings soon enough.” Akira hoped so as well. “None the less, I will continue to put my faith in you.” And with those words, Akira felt his bond with Igor growing slightly stronger. He also felt a new power forming within him.

Igor smiled and began explaining. “This is a skill which will allow you to tap into a sixth sense, enabling you to see things that others cannot.” As Igor explained the details of this new ability, Akira grew more and more excited to actually try it out for himself. “I believe that you will find this power to be a considerable aid to your rehabilitation.”

“We also have some other things to tell you, Inmate. So pay good attention!” Caroline said in her usual tone of voice. Akira listened as the twins explained some of the other services that the Velvet Room would provide for him at the moment, like the compendium, as well as the fact that he would be able to access it from both the real world and from within palaces.

Once they were done with that, Justine then took over the conversation. “Now then… do you have any further requests of these services?”

“No. Not right now.” Akira replied. Truthfully, it was because he was completely exhausted and did not have the energy to deal with any more of whatever all of this was today. Not like he would tell them that, though. And if he really needed to do something here, he could always do it later.

“Just remember where to find us if you have any further need of us.”

And with those words, Akira left the Velvet Room.

“Hey… dude...” Akira heard Ryuji say. When he came to again, he saw his friend standing next to him, looking relieved. “Good, you’re back.”

“What just happened?” he asked.

“I don’t know. You were just standing there. Not moving or anything. Tried poking and shaking you, but nothing. If it had gone on any longer, I totally would have busted out the markers.” the blond joked.

“Wait… you didn’t see me going through that door over there into the Velvet Room?” Akira asked, pointing to the door in question.

Ryuji looked confused. “What are you talking about? There’s no door there. Wait… is this another thing that only you can do?”

“I guess so. But you really don’t see anything? Not even the girl with the clipboard?”

“Nope. So can you tell me what just happened?” Ryuji asked.

After Akira was done briefly explaining things to Ryuji, the blond looked rather excited.

“So you’ve got some sort of magic sight now? Oh, that sounds so cool!”

“I guess so. Haven’t tried it out yet.” Akira admitted.

“Well then what are you waiting for? Try it out!”

Taking a breath, Akira focused and felt an energy flowing to his eyes. And then the world around him turned darker, with only a few points, like the Velvet Room door glowing even brighter and their entry point to the castle standing out.

“So, what is it like?” Ryuji asked.

“Not all that different. Maybe it’ll work better once we’re actually inside the palace.” Akira pulled out his phone. “Any way, let’s just go back.” He pressed the app, and they returned to the real world.

As they were walking to the station, Ryuji asked “By the way, what are you planning on doing tomorrow?”

“Nothing in particular.” Akira had been so focused on everything that had been happening on each individual day, that he hadn’t really had time to think about that.

“Well, if you’re free, I should totally show you around the city. You probably haven’t really had the chance to see any of it outside of Shujin. Huh, country boy?”

Country boy? Really? Well, Ryuji asked for it… “Ah reckon ah could use a guide through this here city.”

Akira watched in amusement as Ryuji’s eyes grew wide. “That means yes, right?”

He laughed. “You’re darn tootin right it does!”

 

\----------------------

 

Walking around the station, Ann felt her stomach growl. She had some time before she needed to be home, so she felt like she could pick up something to eat. Yon Germain was open, so maybe she could buy one of those cute but also kind of gimmicky little cupcakes with whipped cream shaped icing. Or maybe an éclair. Or maybe a chocolate muffin. Or…

Just then, Ann felt her phone ringing in her pocket. After pulling it out, she was filled with dread when she saw the caller ID. She answered the call, hoping it would be over quickly.

“What do you want?” she said, bitterly.

“Now, now. Is that any way to speak to a teacher? After all that I’ve done for you…” said Kamoshida.

“Look, just tell me what you want. I’m busy.” Ann really didn’t have the patience for his fake pleasantries right now.

“Well I called to tell you the great news. My schedule for tomorrow is free!” Suddenly she no longer felt like eating anything. “So you can come over to my apartment like we discussed.”

She took a breath. “About that… I can’t come tomorrow. I have to go to a photo shoot.” She didn’t mention that she asked to have her session on this Sunday so that she could have an excuse to get away from him. Ann could only hope that that would get him off her back.

“It’s not healthy for a student to be working so much. Why not just take a day off to relax, Ann-chan?” his voice had that usual sugar coated fakeness to it.

“Will you please just give it a rest!? I told you, I’m busy!” She could feel the irritation growing more and more within her.

“Oh, what a shame. I guess I just might have to reconsider if Suzui-chan is worthy of her position on the starting line-up. Nationals are coming up, and I can’t have unworthy players on the team.”

“Wait, what…!?” She was… not expecting that. “That’s not what you promised! And you call yourself a teacher!? Shiho has nothing to do with this!”

As he raised his voice, she regretted what she had just said. “You know what?! Fine! Just forget about the arrangement! Don’t come to my place, since you’re so busy! Go and model or whatever! Since it’s more important to you than your friend!”

“Wait…” she gasped as he hung up. All she could do was stare at her phone as it emitted a low beep.

Normally she would be glad that Kamoshida was telling her to stay away from him, but she could recognize reverse psychology when she saw it. And Ann knew that Kamoshida wasn’t just going to let her off like that. But what could she do? For herself and for Shiho…

Her emotions overwhelming her, she crouched down and felt the tears beginning to form in her eyes.

“Shiho’s… starting position…” she muttered.

“Um, Takamaki-san? Are you okay?” somebody said to her. Turning her head and looking up, she saw Kurusu standing next to and looking down at her. Caught completely off guard, she quickly got up off the floor and wiped the tears out of her eyes.

“Were you eavesdropping on me?” she barked at him.

“I didn’t do it on purpose…” He looked down at the ground.

“Don’t you know how to respect someone’s privacy?” She sighed. “No, it’s not your fault. Sorry.”

Ann took a moment to collect herself.

“So… how much of that did you hear?” she asked.

“It sounded like you were arguing with someone. Something about a friend…” He answered.

“Shiho… It’s nothing at all.” She looked down. “Nothing…”

Feeling the tears starting to come back, she wiped them away with her sleeve and ran off. Running down the stairs and further into the station, she decided to just try and get on the next train heading home. Unfortunately, her sprint quickly came to a halt because she was both wearing heels and not in the best physical shape.

She took a moment to catch her breath by the one of the brightly colored pillars. Much to her dismay, however, Kurusu had used this opening to catch up to her.

“Stop following me… Just leave me alone!” she shouted.

Kurusu was briefly taken back. After a short moment though, he turned back to look at her. “Are you okay?” he then asked.

“Why? Why do you keep worrying about me?” Ann began sobbing.

“I just want to talk.” He said, a calming tone to his voice.

“What the heck…? I don’t really get you…” She couldn’t understand just why. Why was he so concerned with her? Concerned enough to follow her after she tried to run away from her. Wait, did he want to try something funny with her?! She took a breath. No… he probably wasn’t like that. She needed to remember that not all guys are “interested” in her like Kamoshida is, or buying all the shit from the rumors.

From what she had seen, he was also a victim of the rumors and didn’t seem like he was wrapped around Kamoshida’s finger like the rest of Shujin. So, maybe she could try and confide in him.

Because this was just what she felt she needed most right now. Someone to talk to.

“I… Let’s just talk this over. But not here. People are starting to stare, after all.” She said.

 

\----------------------

 

“It was just an argument…” Takamaki began speaking. She and Akira had decided to go to the nearest Big Bang Burger.

“With Kamoshida?” Akira asked, already knowing the answer. Takamaki looked rather stressed out.

“You’ve heard the rumors, haven’t you? About Kamoshida?” He nodded. Both from students gossiping in the halls and from Ryuji. “People say that we’re some sort of item, that I’m sleeping with him… But that’s not true…”  

She propped her head up on the table with her arm. “That was him on the other line. I avoided giving him my number for the longest time… He wanted me to come to his place tomorrow. You know what it means…”

Takamaki took a breath. “The only reason I flirt with him is for the sake of my friend Shiho. At first it was just a few dates in public. I go out with him and she gets to stay on the starting lineup. But then, as time went on, he got more and more serious with his demands. And now, he’s threatening to take Shiho off of the team if I don’t do what he wants.”

She started tearing up. “I’ve tried all kinds of excuses to get away from him. Saying that I wasn’t feeling well, that I have to visit some relatives, arranging unavoidable appointments… I keep telling myself that this is all for the sake of Shiho, that it’ll be worth it if I can just endure it long enough… but… I just can’t take this anymore!”

Akira averted his eyes to the side. He didn’t know what to say. He wanted to help, but he didn't know how he could. Looking back at Takamaki, he saw that she started crying.

“I’ve had enough of this… I hate him!” She looked back down. “But still… Shiho’s my best friend. She’s all I have left at that sorry excuse of a school! Tell me… what should I do?”

Akira… didn’t know what to say. Takamaki wiped away her tears.

“Sorry… I shouldn’t have asked. It’s not your problem.”

After a brief pause, she continued.

“What… am I saying? I’ve barely even talked to you before…”

“Sorry for butting in…”

“No… this was all my fault.” She wiped away some more tears. “You’re so weird. Usually everyone just ignores me.”

Takamaki looked up at him. “Are you really as bad as the rumors say? You don’t seem like it…”

“I’m bad to the bone.” Maybe that would cheer her up. Akira hoped it would.

She chuckled. Good. “Was that supposed to be a joke? I had a feeling that all of those rumors were just exaggerations. When I talked to you yesterday, you seemed kind of lonely. Like you didn’t have any place to belong… We’re the same in that regard. Maybe that’s why it was so easy for me to talk to you.”

The blonde took a moment to sigh. “Is there really nothing I can do to get  Shiho and myself out of this mess? Like, I wish that he would just change his mind and forget about me.” She leaned back and dryly laughed. “Yeah, like he’s gonna ever lose his perverse fixation on me… Still, I feel a lot better, after talking about it like this. Thanks.”

She grabbed her drink and her bag. “I’m going to head home. Don’t tell anybody else what I just told you, got it?”

“I promise I won’t.” said Akira.

She got up off her seat. “I’ll try and think of a way that I can deal with Kamoshida. But I should probably call Shiho first, let her know what’s going on. Bye for now.”

Once Takamaki had left, Akira took some time to contemplate while staring at his drink.

Should he tell her about the Metaverse, about Kamoshida’s palace? Any extra help to find a way to put a stop to what Kamoshida is doing would be welcomed. And Igor said that forming bonds with others was the key to success, so maybe he should.

He should probably talk this over with Ryuji tomorrow, see what he thinks.

 

\----------------------

 

Once Shiho exited the changing room, she saw Mishima standing near the door.

“Suzui… Are you leaving?” he asked.

“What is it?”

His head turned and looked down on the floor. “Mister Kamoshida’s asking for you…”

“What did he want?” Why was he calling for her? She had done all the exercises perfectly and had made extra sure not to make any mistakes. So why?

“He didn’t say. All he said was that it was urgent…”

“…Where is he?” she asked.

“He said he was going on ahead to the PE faculty office, so you should head there… Well, I have to go…” he said before he left.

Shiho watched as Mishima walked away.

She felt her phone buzzing in her pocket. Looking at the screen, she saw that it was a call from Ann. Should she answer it?

No. If she answered her call now, it would only needlessly worry her. After all, this was her problem, not Ann’s…

Her footsteps echoing through the empty halls only reminding her of just how alone she was right now, she made her way to Kamoshida’s office. It was unsettling just how different the school looked with nobody there, as compared to when it was filled with talkative students and bustling activity. Anything could happen to her right now, and nobody would come to help her.

Standing in front of the door, she quickly grew nervous. Just what did Kamoshida want with her?

She shook her head. _No. Don’t think about such things now_. She couldn’t let herself get doubts now. If she backed out now, he would only make things worse for Ann and her. Just endure it…

Raising a shaking hand, she softly knocked on the door a few times. His voice immediately answered.

“Who is it?!” he called out, his tone snappy.

“It’s me, Suzui…” her voice was so weak that she wasn’t sure if he had heard her.

“Good. You’re here. Come inside.”

As she opened the door, she was unpleasantly surprised that he wasn’t right by the door, ready to grab her by the wrist and drag her inside. Instead, he was sitting at his desk, his back turned towards her. When he turned his head to look at her, she saw his eyes focus on her and a large, unsettling grin form on his face. She flinched at the sight of it.

“There’s no need to worry. Just come inside…” he said, his gaze still firmly locked on her.

A voice inside her told her to run, to just turn around, flee and never look back. But she couldn’t do it. She wanted to escape, but she couldn’t. Escaping would only delay her beating and make it so much worse when he finally got around to it. Not to mention what he might do to Ann if she ran away.

Once she had stepped inside the room, he continued speaking.

“Be sure to close the door behind you…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who's back! No, I haven't forgotten this story, it's just that I've been busier with other things than I expected.  
> But I will see this story through to the end, don't worry.
> 
> I've gone back to previous chapters and edited some stuff that I didn't really like.
> 
> Next time:
> 
> It's pretty much just that brief moment of calm before a massive storm hits.


	8. Tokyo Daylight

_When the familiar chime rang and classes finally ended, Ann made her way to the school’s main entrance, where she had agreed to meet up with Shiho. Normally, she’d be at the volleyball club right now, but Shiho had told her during lunch that the supervising teacher suddenly got sick. And because they couldn’t find a substitute on such short notice and because leaving a bunch of kids unsupervised with the gym equipment would just be a disaster waiting to happen, the school decided that the easiest solution would just be to just cancel it for today. Despite Shiho’s grumblings that the book club never has this problem, she seemed glad to have the afternoon free. Which was why she and Ann decided to spend the afternoon in the city._

_Passing through the doors, Ann saw that Shiho was already there. Standing at the bottom of the stairs, she was looking at something on her phone. Shiho seemed rather engrossed by whatever it was, as she didn’t show any reaction when Ann called her name. Curious as to what could have caught her attention that much, she snuck up behind her._

_“Huh? What are you looking at?” said Ann as she leaned over Shiho’s shoulder._

_“Oh. Hi Ann. When did you get here?” She responded, completely unfazed._

_“Just now.” Ann leant over some more to get a better look. “Shujin Academy’s official website? You thinking of applying there?” It was already that time, wasn’t it? Where middle school starts slowly coming to an end and the kids have to start preparing for the high school entrance exams. Middle school went by surprisingly fast, huh? But I guess that’s what happens when you have something that makes it worthwhile, Ann thought._

_“Yep.” Shiho said as they both sat down on the steps next to each other. “You’ve heard of the school, haven’t you?”_

_Ann leaned back. “Not really…”_

_“It’s one of Tokyo’s most prestigious high schools.” Shiho tried to explain._

_“Not really ringing a bell…”_

_“One of their students went on to become an Olympic athlete and actually won a gold medal for Japan.”_

_“Can I have another hint?”_

_“Their volleyball team is, from what I’ve heard, quite successful. And so is their track team. ”_

_“Ummm…..”_

_Seeing how clueless Ann still looked, Shiho deadpanned. “They’re the ones with the plaid pants and skirts.”_

_“Oh, that one. So you’re gonna try and get into it because of its volleyball team?” Ann asked._

_“Yeah. It’s going to be hard, but I think I can manage to get a spot in it if I work hard enough.”_

_“There’s no if about whether you’ll get in ‘cause you always work so hard. Harder than anyone else. So why are you still doubting yourself?”_

_Shiho looked down. “It’s just… Shujin’ s a prestigious academy. A lot of students are going to try and get a spot there, and I’m just not entirely sure if I can stand out amongst all the other applicants.”_

_“Yeah, but most of them are nothing compared to you. You’re great at volleyball, you have good grades in everything else, so there’s no reason for them not to take you. If you don’t give up and keep working hard like you always have, then I know you’ll make it.”_

_“You’re right. I’m not going to give up. I’ll get into Shujin, even if it’s the last thing I do.” Shiho was interrupted by Ann’s laughter. “What’s so funny?”_

_Ann smiled at her. “Nothing. It’s just… you sounded a lot like Sakamoto just now.”_

_Shiho looked confused. “How so?”_

_“When I spoke to him the other day, he told me that he was also planning to go to Shujin. Although, for him it’s through track instead of volleyball. He said, and I quote, ‘I’m gonna try to get in with a track scholarship, cause I’m sure as hell not going to get in anywhere with my grades, cuz they’re so bad.’” Okay, that last part was totally made up, but Shiho didn’t need to know that._

_“You mean like yours?” Shiho jabbed at her, smirking._

_“Hey! That’s not true and you know it.”_

_“Right, you’re always at the top of the class in English even though you never study.”_

_Ann leaned forward. “Exactly. So, anyway, what do you want to do today?” They both got up and walked away from the school._

_“I don’t have anything in particular in mind. You?”_

_“Well… There’s this crepe shop that just opened that I’ve been wanting to check out.”_

_“You should really not be eating so much sugary stuff if you want to be a model in the future.” Shiho advised._

_“Eh. It’s fine. I already told you, everlasting perfect figures run in the Takamaki family blood.”_

 

\----------------------

**04/17/16**

**Sunday**

 

Making his way down the stairs, Akira saw Sojiro there, making his preparations for opening up the shop. The older man looked at Akira and greeted him half heartily. Pulling out his phone, Akira looked over the last few texts from the previous night.

 

_[Ryuji] Anyway… I’ll be waiting for you at the Hachiko statue._

_[Ryuji] Should be easy enough to find. There’s no way you can miss it._

_[Akira] Got it. I’ll see you then._

 

He hadn’t told Ryuji about his thoughts of telling Takamaki about the Metaverse, deciding that that topic was best discussed face to face.

As he was about to leave, Sojiro asked “Where are you going?”

“Out to Shibuya to spend a day with my friend.” Akira replied. Wait, was Boss not going to let him go out on Sundays?

Sojiro contemplated while grumbling, which worried Akira. He didn’t want to cancel out on Ryuji’s plans. After a short while, he said “Well, aside from being late on the first day you’ve behaved yourself, so I guess I’ll allow it.”

Filled with gratitude, Akira bowed and said “Thank you, Sakura-san.”

Sojiro then scowled. “You don’t have to be so formal with me. Just be back by five thirty. Oh, and stop calling me that. I told you, just call me Boss.”

Wishing goodbye, Akira left Leblanc.

While he was on the train to Shibuya, Akira managed to find a seat. Not that it would matter much with the ride only a few more minutes away from Shibuya, but it was a nice change of pace from having to stand while he was being pressed against by strangers from all sides. Since he had forgotten to bring a book that wasn’t his probation diary with him, Akira instead decided to just look around.

It was a different sight, seeing all those people from his current angle. Not exciting or interesting, just different. All of a sudden, the world around him briefly turned dark. And then, in an instant, it was back to normal. _Wait… was that my third eye? Does it work in the real world too?_ Akira wondered.

He had to save those questions for later, as the train arrived in Shibuya and Akira got off.

Even though Akira had to ask around a few times to find out where the heck the Hachiko statue was (He’d have to make sure not to tell Ryuji or he’d never hear the end of it.), it seemed that he somehow arrived too early, as Ryuji was nowhere to be found. Akira turned his head in all directions, but his friend was nowhere to be seen. With how much the blond’s dyed hair and loud voice made him stand out from the masses, that’s saying a lot.

Knowing that he’d just have to wait, Akira leaned against a railing. Taking the time he had, he experimented with his third eye. At first, nothing much stood out. But after a while, he saw Ryuji coming towards him. Turning the third eye off, he couldn’t see him anymore. At least, for a short moment.

“Sorry I’m late.” Ryuji said as he put his hands on his legs and panted. “My mom wanted me to help her out with the laundry, and I couldn’t say no.”

After the blond lifted himself up, he continued. “You’re not mad, are you?”

“Not at all.” Akira replied. “So where are we going today?”

“Well, first there’s this shop in the back alley…”

 

\----------------------

 

Ann smiled and struck a pose. The camera flashed a few times.

“All right, that’s a wrap. Let’s take a break and then get started on the short-sleeved stuff.” The director shouted.

While the other models began gossiping with each other or talking with their agents or just doing whatever, Ann instead sat down at one of the benches on the sidelines. While she was drinking her water, Ann typed a few texts to Shiho.

 

_[Ann] Shiho? Are you okay?_

_[Ann] Is everything all right?_

 

Once she did that, she just mindlessly watched all the other people while thinking. When Shiho hadn’t answered her call yesterday, Ann didn’t think much of it. She had probably just turned her phone off before volleyball practice and had forgotten to turn it back on again. Her not responding at all during the rest of yesterday was probably just her being exhausted and tired and just wanting to rest. It wasn’t any real cause for concern.

But when she hadn’t even gotten so much as a text from Shiho this morning, Ann started to worry a little. Even more so when she saw that her previous texts from last night were still unread. It just wasn’t normal for Shiho to be completely radio silent for this long.

She sighed. Maybe she was just overreacting. She didn’t know everything about Shiho’s life, so maybe this was just something minor and everything would be back to normal soon enough.

Just then, her thoughts were interrupted by the voice of the director.

“Alright, break’s over. Back to work, everyone.”

Taking one last glance at her phone, Ann saw the same sight as before. She shook her head. There was nothing she could do about it now. All she could do was wait for Shiho to respond.

 

\----------------------

 

“… But then I ended up losing my balance and the Sea Guardian pulled me straight into the water, fishing rod and everything.” Akira told Ryuji. After their disastrous attempt at bargaining with the gun shop owner for a cheaper price, they had wandered around Shibuya some more. When they were starting to get hungry, Ryuji took him to a diner. While they were waiting for their food to arrive, they decided to tell each other various dumb stories from their childhoods to pass the time.

“Okay, I’m calling bullshit on that. There’s no way there’s a fish that huge.”

Akira laughed. “One day I need to take you out to the country to prove just how wrong you are. Anyway, now it’s your turn again.”

Ryuji took a moment to think before speaking again. “Well… there was this one time where me and my mom went to Dome Town and we…”

All of a sudden, Ryuji turned silent. His eyes went wide and Akira could see a drop of sweat coming down the side.  When Akira turned around to see what he was looking at, he didn’t see anything of note other than a few boys near the entrance of the diner. As they went past their table, however, they looked at Ryuji with scornful expressions, which were familiar to Akira. He had seen them too often for comfort in his hometown after his arrest. But these weren’t the stares that his parents gave him, but rather the looks he got from the neighbors and his former friends.

Ryuji himself looked kind of bummed out. The blond turned his head away from them, sighing and looking down. Once those boys had walked further to the far back of the diner, Akira asked “What was that?”

Ryuji looked back up. “Oh, those guys… They’re just members of the track team. Well… were…”

“I’m sorry.”

“What are you apologizing for? None of this is your fault.” Ryuji took a sip of his soda.

“Right… Kamoshida is the one to be blamed for all of this.”

Putting down his soda with a thud, Ryuji replied “Exactly! Which is why we gotta find a way to take him down.”

Akira dryly laughed. When Ryuji asked why, he said “Well… I’m starting to doubt if we can even pull this off at all.”

“What do you mean?” Ryuji asked.

“It’s just… every plan that we’ve tried so far has been a failure. And even now, we still don’t have any idea on how to stop Kamoshida. Yeah, we’re exploring his palace, but what’ll happen if by the time we’re done with that a solution doesn’t magically fall into our hands or something.”

“Yeah, but we don’t  know what we’ll find in there. So until we actually do it, you can’t say that it won’t happen either.”

“And it’s not just that, there’s something else I wanted to ask you.” Was he really doing this?

“What is it?” Ryuji asked.

“It’s about Takamaki…” Akira began. Oh boy, he was not looking forward to having to explain this. Feeling the words being stuck in his throat, Akira took a sip of his drink to clear his throat. Still not feeling all that much better, Akira realized that he would have to just brute force it.

“It’s just… IthinkweshouldmaybeaskTakamakiandseeifshemightwanttohelpusstopKamoshida.” Akira somehow managed to force out in one sitting. The words being out of him didn’t make him feel better, as he was now filled with dread as to what Ryuji would say to that.

“Dude… what?” Ryuji managed to get out, flabbergasted. _Why does this feel so much like when I’m being scolded by my mom?_

Akira looked down and mumbled. “I just think we should try and see if we can get someone else to help us out in the Metaverse. Because… I don’t know if we can last much longer in the palace with just the two of us.”

“Yeah, but… Do you remember how she told us off when we tried to talk to those guys? She’d probably just rat us out to him. I doubt she’ll be changing her mind about Kamoshida anytime soon, after all.“ Ryuji remarked.

Just as Akira was about to try and counter that by telling Ryuji about Ann’s own problems with Kamoshida, he remembered that he had promised her not to tell anyone. And once he had remembered that, he no longer felt like talking about this any longer.

_You know what, best just to drop this idea._

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Sorry. You took me out to have fun and here I am, venting to you about all my problems and worries and stupid ideas.” Akira apologized, secretly hoping Ryuji would forget the previous topic.

“Eh, it’s alright. We still have half a day left, after all.” _Good, it worked._

“True. So where did you want to take me next?”

They were briefly interrupted as their food arrived, but once that was done, Ryuji immediately answered his question. “Maybe to one of the parks. I was thinking Inokashira, but then I remembered that I haven’t been to Yoyogi in a while. Plus, it’s a lot closer.”

Before taking a bite of his steak, Akira said. “Then let’s go there.”

 

\----------------------

 

“All right, we’re done for today. You can all go home now.”

Exhausted from having to work a longer shift than usual, Ann packed up the few belongings she had with her and left. Pulling out her phone and turning it back on, she was anxious as to what her texts would be displaying. When it finally displayed the main menu, Ann made no hesitation and immediately opened the chat app. Much to her dismay, however, she saw that not only were there no missed calls or new messages, but her previous texts were still unread.

This was starting to make Ann worry more than a little. As the anxiety and unease was slowly starting to build up inside of her, she decided to try and call Shiho. Once she had hit the call button, all she could think was _Shiho, please pick up please pick up please…_

 

_“The person you are trying to reach is currently unavailable. Please leave a message after the sound._ ***beep***

 

She should have expected this. After taking a breath, Ann began speaking.

“Hey, Shiho. It’s me, Ann. Is everything okay? You haven’t been answering me since yesterday. I’m kinda worried about you. You know you can always talk to me if something’s the matter. I’ll always be here for you…”

Not knowing what else to say, Ann ended the message after a moment of uncomfortable silence.

Picking up her bag, Ann left to go home. On her way to the station, her thoughts were caught in a loop. It just wasn’t normal for Shiho to not be on her phone at all for this long. Just what problem did she have that she was silent for this long?

Ann sighed. No, maybe it was just her that’s the problem. After all, it wasn’t her right to know every single thing that Shiho did, even if she was her best friend.

_I’ll try calling Shiho one more time when I get home and if she doesn’t answer… I’ll just try and talk to her at school tomorrow._

 

\----------------------

 

When Akira returned to Leblanc, Sojiro was still there, tending the shop. The TV was running, currently showing the news.

 

_… earlier today politician Yukio Nagatsuma died in a car accident. While the police have released no final statement regarding this incident, they suspect that it may have been due to the driver losing control of the vehicle. During his life, he was known primarily for his criticism of the ruling party and his work in the opposition, with many of his policies aimed to benefit the younger generation…”_

 

Looking at him with an undiscernible expression, Sojiro greeted Akira. After greeting him back, Akira went up to his room. Seeing that he still had plenty of energy, he spent the evening trying to clear up some more of the clutter that was lying around.

After that, once Boss and all the nonexistent customers were gone, Akira got ready for the night. Lying down on his bed, he thought about tomorrow. He didn’t know just how he felt about it. He and Ryuji were probably going to go to the Metaverse again, but other than that, he couldn’t think of anything of note about the next day.

_Oh well, best just to let it play out on its own and just see what happens._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who forced herself to sit down and finally finish this chapter.
> 
> Next chapter:
> 
> You all know what's coming.


	9. Trepidation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long for me to update, but this month has not been going so great for me. First I needed some time to settle back in after vacation. Then I had to go back to work. Then my cat got hit by a car.
> 
> At least this is the longest chapter so far, which'll hopefully make up for it.

**04/18/16**

**Monday**

 

“Crap, I’m going to be late!” Akira muttered as he ran through the alleyways to the school. Why was he running? Because he had overslept this morning and the only reason he had not woken up too late was due to Boss personally coming up to the attic and all but literally dragging him out of bed. As a result, he had just barely made the train to Shibuya.

_Damn it, I knew I shouldn’t have stayed up so late to watch that livestream._ Akira thought to himself between gasping for air and wiping the sweat off his brow.

Once he arrived at Shujin, he looked the giant clock on the outside of it. _I still have ten minutes left before homeroom starts. Good…_

Sighing in relief, he headed inside the school. There were barely any students around, as most of them had already gone inside their classrooms.

When he reached the second floor, he saw that the halls there were also mostly empty. Mostly. Standing outside of one of the other classrooms was Takamaki, looking like she was worried about something.

 Cautiously going up to her, he flatly said “That’s not our classroom.”

It took a moment before she responded.

“Oh, good morning, Kurusu…” Takamaki mumbled, not really giving him much focus.

“Is everything okay?” he asked.

She was silent for a moment before letting out a choke. “Do you remember what I told you on Saturday… how I said I’d try and call Shiho?”

“Yes. Why?”

“Well, I did… and she didn’t answer. And yesterday, whenever I tried to call and text her… I got nothing. She didn’t respond at all.” Takamaki took a moment to catch her breath.

“So… you’re waiting here to see if she’ll show up?” Akira asked.

“Yeah…” she said, her voice weak. “And she’s still not here… I’m just really worried that something might have happened to her…”

Not knowing how to respond, Akira kept silent. Both of them did.

The awkward silence didn’t last long, as it was suddenly interrupted.

“Oh, there you two are…” Kawakami, who looked like she hadn’t gotten any sleep at all last night, said as she walked over to them. “What are you two doing out here? Homeroom is about to start, you know.”

“We were just… talking about some stuff.” Takamaki said.

“Why do I have to deal with this?” Their teacher mumbled before sighing. “Whatever. Both of you… just get to class, will you?”

 

\----------------------

 

Ann could barely focus as Miss Kawakami went through roll call. The world around her faded mostly into white noise. When her name finally came up, she responded with a halfhearted “Here” before directing her attention elsewhere.

The school’s rumor mill was, _unfortunately,_ just as active as always. They seemed to have latched on to the idea that, because she and Kurusu were both late and came to class together today, that that meant that they were some sort of item or something. Ann felt particularly disgusted when a few of them were even suggesting some sort of bullshit love triangle between her, the transfer student and Kamoshida. As she internally cringed at that thought, Ann swore she heard Kurusu letting out a groan from behind her.

After a while, as her stomach felt cold and uneasy, Ann’s thoughts had drifted off and were caught in a loop.

 

_Why didn’t Shiho show up?_

_She’s not the kind of person to skip class…_

_Did something happen to her on her way to school?_

_But that wouldn’t explain why she didn’t respond to any of my texts or calls…_

_Unless…_

_Something happened to her last Saturday…_

_But what could have happened?_

_Let’s see… what was she doing that day?_

_She was at volleyball practice with Kamoshid-_

_Wait… did he do something to her?_

 

Finding herself to be unable to suppress her restlessness, Ann resorted to mindlessly clicking and playing with her pen. Anything to calm her nerves.

_“Huh, what’s that over there?”_

_“Isn’t that Suzui-san?”_

 

At the mention of Shiho’s name, Ann’s head immediately shot up. She saw her classmates looking at… something. She couldn’t tell from the angle she was sitting at.

 

_“What’s she doing up there?”_

_“Wait… she’s going to jump!”_

 

Once she heard that, Ann stood up from her seat.

“Shiho?” she said.

Ann’s stomach twisted. She felt sick to her insides.

_There’s no way… this can’t be true…_

Ignoring how her class quickly devolved into a mess of sudden chatter, with Kawakami desperately trying to get them to quiet down and sit still, Ann quickly ran into the hall. Pushing some other student out of the way, Ann saw her current fear realized.

Standing on the edge of the school roof, behind the railing, was Shiho. Ann couldn’t see her face from that far away, but even so, she could still tell what her best friend’s intentions were.

Hands pressed up against the glass, Ann’s entire body was frozen. Her mind was both caught in a staticy blank, as well as blaring a million thought about this situation.

But before she could do anything, Shiho fell.

\----------------------

 

“I-I swear I don’t know anything!” Mishima said as he cowered close to the wall.

Ryuji slammed his fist against the lockers. “Then why the hell did you try and run like that?! Huh?”

“I didn’t run…”

 “She jumped and tried to kill herself!” the blond shouted, seeming to slowly lose his temper.

“P-Please… just leave me alone…”

“Mishima, please, just tell us what happened.” Akira said in a calm tone, hoping to get the situation under control.

Ryuji crossed his arms and took on a less aggressive stance. “Yeah, what this guy just said. We won’t rat you out or anything; we just wanna know what the hell’s going on.”

“Suzui…”

That seemed to calm the blue haired boy down, as he finally began spilling the beans.

“It happened last Saturday… After volleyball practice was over, Kamoshida called Suzui to his office.”

“Wait, what?” Ryuji exclaimed, seeming not to know how to react to that.

“This wasn’t the first time it had happened; Me, Suzui… pretty much everyone had been called by him to his office. Whenever he was in a bad mood, he’d pick someone… and beat them.” In the corner of his eye, Akira noticed Ryuji’s leg start to twitch even more. “But when he told me to get her… it was completely out of the blue. She hadn’t done anything wrong.”

Akira and Ryuji stared in silence as Mishima continued his story, with his voice taking a noticeably softer tone.

“That day… Kamoshida seemed really irritated about something. I don’t know what it was“…but whatever it was… what he did to Suzui must have been… worse than usual…”

Akira’s mind immediately jumped back to what Takamaki had told him that day. About how Kamoshida had been trying to get her to come to his house and his bed. And about how angry he got when she refused. If that was what was on his mind at the time, then…

 

_Oh god…_

 

It seemed that Ryuji had also managed to come to the same conclusion that he did, as his face turned pale. “He didn’t…”

His expression then changed to anger. “That son of a bitch!” The blond then ran off.

“Ryuji! WAIT!” Akira shouted.

But it was no use, as the blond was already too far away. After exchanging a quick glance with Mishima, they both ran after him.

 

\----------------------

 

Ann couldn’t help but stare at Shiho for the entirety of the ride. Her gaze may have wandered about and around the inside of the ambulance a few times, looking at the various machinery and medical equipment, but it would always return to her best friend.

Her best friend who was currently in a coma due to attempting suicide. Shiho’s belly slowly moving up and down was the only sign that she wasn’t dead yet. That she could still be saved.

Ann felt her heart beating too fast in her chest. Her nerves were shaky, like the slightest touch could cause her to crumble. The faint sound of the ambulance’s siren in the background definitely wasn’t helping.

Pressing her legs together and intertwining her fingers to help keep herself stable, Ann pushed away any thoughts about the nature of the current situation, especially those nagging ones about why Shiho tried to take her own life.

_There’s no point in thinking about that right this moment._

Right now, all she could do was wait for the paramedics to bring Shiho to safety. And be thankful for the fact that Shiho still has a chance.

As much as she hated it, that was all she could do.

 

\----------------------

 

“YOU GODDAMN SON OF A BITCH!” Ryuji shouted at Kamoshida, unable to contain his rage any longer. “What the hell did you do to Suzui!?”

As Akira and Mishima entered the room, Kamoshida dismissively waved his hand.

“What are you talking about?” he said in a carefree tone, like this had nothing to do with him. He didn’t even bother to face them.

Becoming even more pissed off due to his shitty attitude, Ryuji impulsively kicked a chair to let out his frustrations. “DON’T PLAY DUMB! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!”

That seemed to get a reaction out of his shittiness himself, as he slammed his hand on the desk, turned towards them, visibly scowling, and said “That is enough!”

Much to Ryuji’s surprise, Mishima was the next one to speak. “What you did… wasn’t coaching… You… You ordered me to call her here…”

The boy raised his hands to his head and bent over. “I don’t even want to imagine what you did to her…”

Kamoshida got up off his chair, towering over them. If Ryuji wasn’t so goddamn angry right now, he might actually be intimidated. The bastard’s glare focused on Mishima.

“You’re going on and on about things you have no proof of. But I guess that’s to be expected. You’re too worthless to be a regular on the team, after all.”

“That’s not what this is about…!”

Kamoshida put his arms on his hips and bent forward. As he spoke, his voice sounded shittier with each word in Ryuji’s ears.

“Even if it is exactly as you imagine it to be, hypothetically speaking… what could you do? We just got a call from the hospital. Suzui’s in a coma, and her chances of recovery are slim… How would someone like that make a statement?”

As Ryuji’s brain was trying to process what he had just heard, Kamoshida made a gesture which could not be more falsely sympathetic if he tried. As the king of assholes spoke again, the blond clenched his hands into fists.

“There’s no chance of her getting better I hear… Oh, the poor girl…”

“No… that can’t be…” Mishima quietly muttered.

As the anger and disgust build up inside of Ryuji, he felt the pressure of his fingers pressing into his sweaty hands.

“You goddamn…”

Kamoshida looked annoyed as he glared at Ryuji. “This again? Do we really need to have another case of “self-defense”?”

At the reminder of the track team incident, Ryuji’s anger boiled over. His head clouded with rage, he raised his fist, ready to punch Kamoshida in the face.

“SHUT THE FUCK UP, YOU SON OF A BITCH!!”

But before his hand hit that bastard’s face, he felt something gripping his arm, holding him back. Turning his head to the side, he saw that Akira had grabbed him by the wrist.

“What the hell? Dude, why’re you stopping me?!”

”Ryuji, calm down! You’re only giving him what he wants.” The raven firmly stated, his voice cold and flat.

“But still…”

After Akira let him go, he turned back to look at that sorry excuse for a teacher. Against his expectations, he saw that Kamoshida looked actually genuinely surprised.

“Oh? You’re stopping him? What a surprise.” Kamoshida then went back to his usual condescending tone. “There’s no need to hold back. Why not attack me? Ohhh that’s right! You can’t… But of course you can’t… Heh heh heh.”

Just as Kamoshida’s face went from condescending asshole back to pissed off, the man himself went back to his desk and sat down. “Everyone present right now… will be expelled. I’m reporting all of you at the next board meeting.”

“Wha-“ Ryuji couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“You can’t make a decision like that!” Mishima protested.

“Who would seriously consider what scum like you have to say?” Kamoshida turned to face them. “You threatened me too, Mishima, so you’re just as responsible.”

“Huh?” Mishima said, looking just as confused as Ryuji and Akira.

“To think you didn’t know why I kept someone as utterly talentless as you on the team. You act like you’re just a victim in all of this, but you’re the one who leaked Kurusu’s criminal record on the school website, aren’t you?”

Akira’s face turned dark as he simply said “What?”

“It’s all over the internet correct? How terrible…”

Ignoring Kamoshida and all of his BS for the moment, Ryuji turned around to look at the blue haired boy. “Mishima…?”

Mishima looked scared and knelt down on the ground. “He told me to do it. I had no choice…”

Ryuji heard Kamoshida laugh behind him, before speaking again. “Now, are we done here? You’re all expelled! You’re done for; your futures are mine to take. Now get out of my office.”

Once they were outside of the room, Mishima immediately began apologizing to Akira.

“Kurusu, I’m sorry. He said he’d take me off the volleyball team if I didn’t do it and I-“

“Mishima… don’t. Just shut up and go away…” Akira said, sounding angrier than Ryuji had ever heard him. (Even though he’s only known Akira for like a week, but still…). And it wasn’t even that fiery rage that was burning in his gut just now. Instead, Akira was completely calm, which in some ways was even more terrifying.

It sounded like Mishima was about to say something else, but just one glance from Akira made him solemnly look down at the floor before walking away.

“Dude, you didn’t need to be so harsh to him.” Ryuji said.

For a moment, Akira stood still, not saying anything. He then coldly stated “You too… just leave me alone…”

“Huh?” Ryuji asked, not understanding what he was hearing. Instead of getting an answer, Akira just began walking away.

“Akira, dude, what’s with this attitude?”

“Don’t you get it?! We’re. going. to be. expelled!” The black haired boy’s voice wavered and shook, like he was about to start crying.

“Yeah, but…” Before the blond could say anything else, he was cut off.

“Sakamoto… just… just go away!” Akira said before running off. Unless Ryuji wasn’t seein shit right, he swore he saw tears in Akira’s eyes.

“Akira! Wait!” Ryuji shouted before chasing after his friend.

 

\----------------------

 

The doctors were frantically rushing around Shiho’s unconscious body, trying to get her condition to stabilize. They were spouting various medical terms that Ann didn’t know the meaning to, and were doing things with medical equipment that Ann could only guess the purpose of.

Shiho was lying unconscious on a bed with her hair down. She was hooked up to some sort of machine to support her breathing. If Ann didn’t know any better, she’d almost say that her friend was just asleep.

“Excuse me. You’re from Shujin, right?” Some lady who seemed to work at the hospital suddenly asked Ann.

“Yes. What is it?” Ann asked back, only half paying attention.

“We just called your school. We’re supposed to let you know that it’s been cancelled for the rest of the day.”

“Oh, I see… thank you...” Ann replied.

As the lady was about to leave, a thought crossed Ann’s mind. “Um… excuse me…” she asked. “How long do people who are in a coma take to wake up?”

“I can’t really say. It’s different for each person. Some take only a few weeks, others a few months, some years. There have even been cases of people being in comas for decades.”

“I-I see… thank you…” Ann only said that last part as a formality. As the woman walked off, Ann felt sick.

Her heart weighing heavy in her chest, she decided to go home.

After taking one last look at Shiho through the window, Ann left the hospital.

 

\----------------------

 

When Ryuji had caught up to Akira, he found the raven haired boy had locked himself up in one of the bath room stalls. Despite not being able to see him, the blond heard his friend crying though the door.

“Akira…?” Ryuji asked, his gut nervous with unease. “Is everything okay?”

It took a bit before he got a reply. “I just got threatened with expulsion. So, no. I’m. not. okay!”

Speaking before thinking again, Ryuji said “Yeah, but… you’re not the only one. He said he’d expel me too, remember?”

“But won’t end up going to prison!” Akira shouted.

Ryuji was put off by that response. Taken back, he simply said “What do you mean?”

“In case you’ve forgotten, I’m on probation. Which means, if I mess up, it’s straight to the slammer for me.” Akira chocked on his tears a few more times before speaking again. “Why…? Why does this keep happening to me? I try to do good and the world just shits on me! I try to save a woman from being raped and then she sides with her would be rapist and has me be the one to be thrown in prison. And then life gives me a second chance to get it back in order again, only to rip it out from underneath my feet. I’ve only been to this school for a week and when I try to help my friend stop an abusive teacher… he goes and pissed him off and completely destroys my second chance at a normal life. And I- *sob* I… I JUST CAN’T TAKE THIS ANYMORE!”

“Akira…” Ryuji said, but it didn’t do anything. Akira was just sobbing at this point, not responding to anything. It hurt seeing his friend like this.

Feeling sick to his stomach because of how Akira was breaking down, Ryuji just silently stood there, thinking about how it even came to this.

And then it hit him like a ton of bricks.

_I haven’t changed a goddamn bit._

_I thought I did, but…_

Back when his rash actions had gotten the track team shut down, Ryuji expected things to be different from that point on, that things wouldn’t be the same.

And on the surface level, that was the case.

In the eyes of the school, he’d gone from Ryuji Sakamoto, star runner of the track team, top candidate for a track scholarship to college, to Ryuji Sakamoto, that delinquent punk with no friends who hung out alone on hung out alone on the roof. He’d gone from the in-crowd to the bottom of the barrel. From someone who was popular with pretty much everyone (despite not bein’ all that smart) to the guy nobody wanted to be with. He had even begun embracing his status as the unwanted scum of society when he dyed his hair blond.

Back then, it seemed that things wouldn’t be the same, that things would be different from then on.

Or so he thought…

_Despite all of that, I’m still the same reckless fucking dipshit I was last year._

Despite Kamoshida eggin him on by talking shit about his ma, it was his dumb temper that had led to his leg being broken and the team being disbanded. It was his dumb temper that had ruined the sport that those guys had loved so much. It was his dumb temper that had made his first year of high school a lonely, miserable hell.

Ryuji thought he had gotten over it, that he’d changed, since then, but no.

Just as life finally decided to cut him some slack, giving him a friend who actually wants to be around him and doesn’t care that he doesn’t fit society’s expectations, he only needed a week to fuck this up again.

_Now Akira is gonna to be sent to jail, ma’s beggin to the principal to keep me in school last year is gonna be wasted, and that bastard’s free to make everybody’s lives even worse than they already are._

As the reality of the current situation sank in, Ryuji began feeling lightheaded and dizzy. Finding it difficult to stand up on his own, he reached out for one of the sinks and pushed his entire body weight on it.

Looking up at the mirror, Ryuji saw some tears begin to form in his own eyes as well. The feelings of sadness, guilt, and self-loathing building up inside of him, Ryuji firmly shut his eyes, blocking out the world around him.

Just as he was about to give up, however, he heard a voice from… somewhere.

_**This fate is not yet set in stone…** _

_That voice… Captain Kidd, is that you?_

**_Indeed it is…_ **

Okay, that was not a thing Ryuji was expecting to happen. His persona was just talkin to him inside his head. Inside of himself, Ryuji guessed that wasn’t too strange, what with that whole ‘personas being part of yourself’ thing. And it really wasn’t the weirdest shit he had seen, so he just decided to roll with it.

_Why are you talking to me now?_

**_You wish to prevent these disasters, to arrive at your bountiful goal instead of drowning on your way there._ **

_Yeah, I do… But what the hell am I gonna do? Kamoshida’s gonna have us expelled!_

**_But has he done so right now?_ **

_Huh?... No, he hasn’t!_

**_Then there is still a chance to overthrow the enemy!_ **

_Yeah, but... I don’t think I’ll be able to pull anything off on my own…_

**_Then why not ask your friend over there? A captain’s true strength comes from his crew, after all._ **

_But Akira’s probably mad at me. I screwed things up for him, just like I did for them…_

**_Ask yourself, is he truly the kind of person who would turn his back on you? Especially since he’s in the same sinking boat?_ **

_N-no… but he’s got just as much reason to hate me as the guys from the track team did, and they still want nothing to do with me…_

**_Then make amends before this matey mutinies as well!_ **

_So… you’re sayin I should apologize to Akira?_

**_You already know the answer to that question…_ **

 

The negative emotions having dulled, Ryuji pushed himself back up. Staring at himself in the mirror, the blond built up his confidence in his gut. _I can do this! I just gotta try._

Akira seemed to have stopped crying in the meantime, which meant that now was Ryuji’s chance.

“Hey… Akira…” Ryuji didn’t get a reply, so he kept speaking. “Look, I’m sorry for what I just did. I was just so mad at Kamoshida and his shit, that I just acted without thinking. And… uhh…” Crap, what else was he gonna say. Why did he have to forget now. “Look, what I’m trying to say is that I’m sorry.”

It took a while, but Akira started talking again. “Even if you apologize, what’s the point? It doesn’t change the fact that Kamoshida will have us thrown us out!”

“But he said he’d do it by reporting us at the next board meetin. I don’t remember when it is, but it’s still a while off. We’ve still got some time to do something.”

“And just what is this something that we’re going to do? In case you haven’t noticed, all of our plans to stop Kamoshida have blown up in our faces!”

“So you’re just giving up? You just wanna sit around, cry, and whine about going to jail?! How is that not blowing up your face? Yeah, our plans may have been dumb and failed, but we went with ‘em cuz there was a chance that they had a chance of workin. So what do you want to do? Go with a plan that might fail, or just do nothing at all and be sent off to the slammer when you didn’t do anything to deserve it?!”

Ryuji took a few breaths after that outburst. He hadn’t meant to snap at Akira like that, it just kinda happened. He guessed it was just the feelings he got from remembering how the track team just accepted Kamoshida’s abuse without doing anything talking.

It was quiet for a moment before Ryuji heard a click as the stall unlocked and Akira stepped out. Even though he was wearing his glasses, Ryuji could see that his eyes were red and puffy and still wet with leftover tears, but he wasn’t crying anymore.

After he wiped away those tears with his sleeve, he said “You’re right. I’m sorry for snapping at you like that.”

“Hey, it’s okay, man. Besides, I’m the one who got us into this mess, so you shouldn’t be apologizing.”

Akira chuckled. “I guess you’re right.”

“So… are we good again?”

“Well, I’m still a little mad. But like you said, I don’t really have much of a choice. So yes.”

“Dude, thanks.”

 

\----------------------

 

After Akira and Ryuji found out that school had been cancelled for the rest of the day, Akira had asked the blond to come home with him, saying that he didn’t want to be alone. Ryuji of course said yes, and before they knew it, they found themselves in Yongen.

As they walked through the alleys, Ryuji took in the unfamiliar sights. He’d been in this part of the city before, but not in this part of it. Soon enough, Akira stopped, but Ryuji didn’t understand why.

“Dude, why’d we stop?” Ryuji asked. As much as he tried, he didn’t see anything that resembled a house in this alley. The only thing that was there was some café called… a word he wasn’t even gonna try and mentally pronounce. Probably English or something. Why Akira took him here, he had no clue.

“We’re here.” Akira simply stated, like he it (whatever it even was) was common knowledge to him. Ryuji was already used to others knowin shit while he understood none of it, but this time he really didn’t have a single clue as to what the hell was going on. Was this some sort of joke? Did Akira love coffee so much that he’d call any place that sells it home?

Luckily for him, Akira saw the dumb look that must have been on his face, he then added “Let’s just go inside. I’ll explain it there.”

That wasn’t really an answer, but if he could accept that there is another world made from Kamoshida’s shitty ego, then just rollin with what the hell was going on was nothing in comparison.

Making the first move, Ryuji stepped forward and put his hand on the handle. Before he opened the door, however, Akira put his hand on his friend’s shoulder.

“Let me do the talking.” Akira quietly said. “Please.”

Inside of the café, there weren’t any customers. Just a grumpy lookin older man behind the counter. The man, after looking over Ryuji with a look that said ‘you’re on my watch-list’ (It was the blond hair, wasn’t it?), turned to Akira.

“The school called and told me what happened.” After a nod or something from Akira, the man continued. “Who is he and why is he here?”

Keeping his promise to the raven, Ryuji kept his mouth shut.

“This is Ryuji, my friend from school. I was pretty shaken up by what happened, so I asked him to come home with me. May we please go to my room? There’s… something I want to talk to him about in private.”

The man thought while mumbling something Ryuji didn’t understand. “Alright, but don’t take too long.”

Akira bowed. “Thank you, Sakura-san.”

Akira gestured Ryuji to follow him up the stairs in the back. As they went up, Mister Sakura shouted up from behind them. “And once you’re done, get back down here and help me out in the shop. Don’t think that you’re going to get a day off just because school got cancelled. …And stop calling me that.”

“Why did you take me to a friggin store room?” Ryuji asked, even more confused than he was before, as he looked around the room.

“This is my room.”

“Wait… what? You’re joking, right?” Ryuji asked, barely grasping what he’d just heard. Akira was seriously living in this dump?

Yeah, the room was bigger than his tiny ass bedroom in their small apartment, but that was the only positive Ryuji could think of. The room was kinda cold, there was still leftover dust in a lot of places, and there were still a few cobwebs in the corners. A lot of junk was stuffed on the shelves and into the corner next to the stairs, and there was what looked like a desk in the back covered in junk with just a tarp tossed over it.

The floor had some dark spots on it, which reminded Ryuji of that one time he’d tried to clean the floor with water, only to get lectured by his mom about how you should never use water on a wooden floor. Thinking of his mom, she’d probably have a heart attack if she saw this place.

“Nope, this is actually my room.” Akira said as he tossed his bag on the… mattress on some bottle boxes, before sitting down on the couch.

“You’re seriously okay with living in this dump?” Ryuji asked, before also sitting down on the couch and feeling just how hard it was.

“Yeah. It might seem like a dump to you, but if you’ve been to prison, anything seems better by comparison. Besides, it was a lot worse before, trust me.”

Before Ryuji could reply to that statement, Akira changed the topic. “So how do you plan to stop Kamoshida from having us kicked out of school?”

“Well… uh…” Crap, why did he forget to think about the most important part? “What do you think we should do?”

Akira sighed before leaning forward. “Well, let’s see… the only thing I can think of is doing something with the palace. I mean, the teachers and the principal are going to cover for Kamoshida no matter what. Right now, they’re probably planning how they’re going to ‘smooth over’ what just happened.”

“The hell?! Someone almost died and they’re still gonna cover for him?” Ryuji said as he punched the couch. Which he immediately regretted, as the couch was even harder than he thought.

“Are you really surprised at this point?” After Ryuji muttered a simple ‘no’, Akira continued. “We can’t turn to our parents either. And since the guys from the volleyball team are too scared of Kamoshida to do anything, that leaves the Metaverse as our only option. I don’t like it, but we really don’t have another choice.”

“For real.” Ryuji leaned back as he thought of something. Before he could say what he was thinking of, his phone vibrated in his pocket. Pulling it out, he saw that he had gotten a message.

“Sorry, Akira. I gotta go now. My mom’s askin for me.” Ryuji said as he got up.

“It’s fine.” Akira said as he did the same.

“You’re sure you’ll be okay on your own?”

“I’ll manage.” The raven turned to Ryuji and smiled. “So, we’re going to the palace tomorrow?”

“Yep. First thing we do after school ends.”

“Got it, I’ll be there.” Ryuji waved as he headed down the stairs.

After hearing the bell jingle, Akira sat himself back down on the couch. A part of him felt bad for lying to Ryuji like that. But he knew it was for the best. While he trusted the blond, he didn’t want him to know that he was still unsure of this whole thing. Especially not after that outburst earlier.

“Hey, Akira! Get down here!” Boss shouted.

“I’ll be down in a moment.” Akira shouted back.

Sighing, Akira tried to focus on the positives. At least Sojiro didn’t know about the impending expulsion. He didn’t even want to imagine what would happen if the old man knew about it. And spending the day working in the café would (hopefully) give his mind a break from what just happened.

_Now where did I put my apron?_

 

\----------------------

 

“Dammit… dammit… dammit… dammitdammitdammit… DAMMIT!!!!” Ann shouted as she repeatedly slammed her fist against her mattress, overwhelmed by her emotions. As she sobbed into her pillow, her thoughts were on a rollercoaster.

_Why…. WHY DIDN’T I REALIZE SOONER?_

_I knew something was wrong when she didn’t answer my calls… so why didn’t I do anything?_

_If I had been there, maybe she wouldn’t have jumped…_

Ann was scared by how fast it had all happened. A few days ago Shiho was… more fine than she is now, and now she’s in a coma, and Ann has no idea when, or even if she’ll wake up again.

_But if I had know what would happen, what could I have done? Going to the photo shoot was my only way of getting away from Kamoshida. But even so, I still could have visited Shiho after I was done…_

_Maybe if I had, she might not have…_

_Shiho…_

Ann turned to her side. She reached for a framed picture on the table next to her bed. On the picture were her and Shiho, smiling and standing next to each other, as Shiho proudly holding up her acceptance letter to Shujin. For the first few months after it was taken, Ann held that picture dearly to her heart, as a symbol of strength and accomplishment. But since actually getting into the school, it hasn’t been able to invoke those feelings again.

As she stared at the younger Shiho, who looked so proud and carefree, tears began filling up Ann’s eyes as sadness and guilt built up in her stomach.

_Shiho… why did you have to suffer so much?_

_Why did you get to the point of trying to kill yourself while I just made a bunch of crappy excuses?_

_Why did you have to suffer this much and not me?_

_Why… why couldn’t I do anything to help?_

Her eyes shifted over to her younger self.

_Shiho… was I a bad friend to you?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trivia time:  
> In the first draft of this story, Shiho actually was going to die here. But back when I was writing chapter 8, I thought about it some more and by the time I uploaded that chapter, I had decided against it.  
> I felt that her character hadn't had enough presence for a death to have a proper impact, and would instead just turn her into a tool for cheap shock value. And after everything she had been through, I just didn't have the heart to kill her off. There are better things I can do with her character.
> 
> Next time:
> 
> We've waited long enough. Time for Ann to join the party. And a few other familiar faces will be making their first appearences.


End file.
